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Australian hacker sentenced in May arrested by HSI Denver, faces deportation
DENVER (KDVR) — An Australian man who pleaded guilty to 14 charges in federal court last month and was sentenced to a year of supervised release was arrested by federal immigration officers and now faces removal proceedings.
David Kee Crees, aka DR32, was extradited to the U.S. in 2023 for the case. He pleaded guilty in January to seven counts of accessing a protected computer without authorization for private financial gain and aiding and abetting, and also to seven counts of causing damage to a protected computer without authorization, causing loss of at least $5,000 and aiding and abetting.
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Another seven counts of the indictment were dismissed due to the plea deal. However, court documents say that Crees admitted in the plea agreement to being a 'prolific hacker who profited by selling data and access obtained from hacks on the darknet.' The court document also notes that Crees was trying to obtain credit card numbers, which may not have been real.
According to court records, DR32 defrauded at least seven victims between July 2020 and July 2021 while he was in Australia. The victims ranged from social media and software companies located in California to a university and payment platform based out of Massachusetts, as well as an international communications server located outside the U.S.
Crees was given one year of supervised release and sentenced to time served on May 13, according to federal court records. According to those documents, Crees was required to appear at probation offices when requested and was not allowed to leave the federal judicial district where he was authorized to live without first getting permission to leave.
'ICE Denver agents arrested Australian alien David Kee Crees because he has multiple computer fraud convictions. He also faces charges for money laundering & ID fraud,' the agency said on X.
The court records don't say that Crees would be deported, but noted that if he is deported, he must not re-enter the U.S. illegally, and if he returns to the U.S. legally, he must report to the nearest U.S. Probation Office within 72 hours of returning to U.S. soil.
Crees was extradited to the U.S. in 2023 after it was announced in September 2022, but according to Australian news outlet The Adelaide Advertiser, and had microchips allegedly embedded in his fingers that were detected by X-rays at the jail. He first appeared in U.S. court on Feb. 8, 2024.
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