A 32-year-old Chicago man is reportedly facing a maximum five years in prison after agreeing to plead guilty to hacking celebrities' Gmail and iCloud accounts in order to obtain their nude photos and videos.
According to various reports, Emilio Herrera is the third person to be prosecuted following a federal investigation into Celebgate, a 2014 scandal in which celebrities' intimate digital photos were stolen and in some cases publicly leaked. Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton were among the victims.
There is no evidence that Herrera actually leaked any of the photos that he personally accessed, reports state, but Herrera does acknowledge in his plea agreement that he hacked into 550 accounts, approximately 40 of which belonged to celebrities.
Herrera admitted that he obtained his victims' user names and passwords via a phishing scheme in which he impersonated the security accounts of internet service providers. However, he claims his intention was never to share the images he stole.
Two other men -- Ryan Collins of Lancaster, Penn. and Edward Majerczyk of Chicago -- were previously sentenced to jail time following their own separate guilty pleas stemming from the Celebgate investigation.
