A 23-year-old British man has pleaded guilty to hacking into more than 100 Twitter accounts, including those of Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Kim Kardashian and Elon Musk, in one of the biggest hacks in social media history. Joseph James O’Connor, also known as PlugwalkJoe, pleaded guilty in New York on Tuesday to his role in the July 2020 hacking, in addition to cyberstalking and multiple other schemes.
O’Connor was extradited from Spain on April 26 to face charges which carry a total maximum sentence of more than 70 years in prison. According to the US Department of Justice, O’Connor was charged alongside compatriot Mason Sheppard of Bognor Regis, West Sussex, and two Americans, Graham Ivan Clark and Nima Fazeli.
Sheppard, who US authorities previously said is also known as Chaewon, was 19 when the crimes took place in July 2020. He was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and the intentional access of a protected computer.
