"A legally blind Massachusetts phone hacker was sentenced Friday to
over 11 years in federal prison, following his guilty plea on computer
intrusion and witness intimidation charges earlier this year.
Matthew Weigman,
19, was sentenced in Dallas by U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn,
according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office there. There is no parole in
the federal system, and little time off for good behavior, so the 135
month term will likely keep Weigman behind bars until 2018.
Known in the telephone party-line scene as “Li’l Hacker,” Weigman is
widely considered one of the best phone hackers alive. Relying on an
ironclad memory and detailed knowledge of the phone system, the
teenager is known for using social engineering to manipulate phone
company workers and others into divulging confidential information, and
into entering commands into computers and telephone switching equipment
on his behalf.
The FBI had been chasing Weigman since he was 15 years old, at times
courting him as an informant. He was finally arrested last May, less
than two months after celebrating his 18th birthday.
“I’ve been interested in phones since I’ve been about 8,” Weigman said in a 2007 interview with Wired.com. “I talked to technicians when they came down here to do things on my phone.”"
Read more: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/06/blind_hacker/
