BOSTON A federal appeals court denied a request from Albert Gonzalez, the one-time government informant convicted of stealing into the data bases of TJX Cos., Heartland Payment Systems, BJ Wholesale Club, Hannaford Bros. and several others of the nation’s biggest retailers, effectively upholding a 20-year prison sentence he agreed to as part of a 2010 plea deal.
“Having considered the record and Gonzalez’s various arguments, we conclude that he has failed to make a “substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right,” wrote the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in a decision handed down Monday.
The master hacker, who had served as a government informant after his 2003 arrest as part of a major cards ring, claimed his infiltration into a host of commercial enterprises was done at the behest of and with the knowledge of his government handlers as part of an undercover operation called “Shadow Ops.” He said his constitutional rights were violated during his plea bargaining because he was not allowed to expose the government’s role.
The government denied it sanctioned his hacking. In addition, the lower court judge said even if his hacking into the numerous companies had been sanctioned, government agents do not “have the power to unilaterally authorize extraordinary’ criminal activities which involve severe financial loses to a victim’” without obtaining written approval from the U.S. Attorney.
The lower court judge also rejected Gonzalez’s assertion that evidence that led to him that was obtained by torture of a massive dealer of stolen credit card data in Turkey should have been suppressed. The argument was never raised during the agreement to plead guilty, ruled the judge.
The lower court judge also rejected Gonzalez’s claim that he told his lawyers of his intent to appeal after he was sentenced but they decided not to do so, without his consent. Both his lawyers said he did not ask them to file a notice of appeal, which he was free to do, even if he signed the plea agreement stating he would not appeal.
Gonzalez, now 41, began working for the Secret Service in 2003 in exchange for staying out of jail when he was convicted of stealing card data and selling it online as part of the Secret Service’s “Operation Firewall,” according to court records. He claims his work helped lead to several major indictments and convictions and that he was somewhat of a star within the Secret Service.
“I was asked to commit acts I knew were illegal,” he said. When he questioned his superiors in the Secret Service he said they told him, “don’t worry, we’ve got your back.”
“At that point,” says Gonzalez, “I would have done anything they asked me to do.”
According to Gonzalez, the Secret Service paid him $1,200 per month as an informant, and on some occasions agents gave him extra cash. One time, he said, he needed $5,000 to pay off a debt to a Russian involved in the online card frauds so the agency agreed to look the other way when he used his hacking skills to earn the money.
Gonzalez said he was shocked when he was arrested May 7, 2008, and he tried to use his Secret Service connections to get him off. “I was expecting the Secret Service to come and take custody of me and squash the charges,” he said. Gonzalez maintains all of his actions were authorized by the government. He claims he is being made a “scapegoat” to cover someone’s mistake.
