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In June 2018, prosecutors announced a ten-count superseding indictment accusing British coder Marcus Hutchins of developing and distributing the Kronos banking Trojan and UPAS Kit malware, and of making a false statement to the FBI. Those were allegations, not findings of guilt. The case later changed: on May 2, 2019, Hutchins pleaded guilty to two counts connected to Kronos and UPAS Kit.

What the 2018 indictment alleged

A federal grand jury returned the superseding indictment on June 5, 2018; the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin announced it on June 7. Prosecutors said the ten-count indictment concerned creating and distributing Kronos and UPAS Kit. The office’s announcement described allegations involving computer fraud, wire fraud, advertising or distributing an interception device, attempted unauthorized computer access, and a false statement to the FBI. Its summary does not provide a count-by-count breakdown that reconciles cleanly to ten, so it is safer not to treat that category list as an exact accounting. The DOJ announcement is the source for its summary; the indictment itself supplies the operative charging language.

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The false-statement count was not a claim that Hutchins lied about WannaCry. A 2019 court opinion describes the allegation as concerning whether Hutchins knew his computer code was part of Kronos. This remained an allegation at the indictment stage, not a judicial finding that his statement was false. The court opinion discusses the count while addressing pretrial motions.

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What the court decided before trial

On February 11, 2019, U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller denied Hutchins’s motion to suppress his post-arrest statements and his motions to dismiss counts in the superseding indictment. The court’s ruling did not decide whether the government could prove its allegations; it said those questions were for trial. A denied dismissal or suppression motion is a procedural ruling, not a verdict. Read the opinion.

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How the case ended in a guilty plea

On May 2, 2019, Hutchins pleaded guilty to two counts: conspiracy to commit computer fraud and advertising a device used to intercept electronic communications. The DOJ reported that his plea admissions included developing the malware and working with an accomplice to sell it for profit. The plea therefore resolved two counts related to Kronos and UPAS Kit; it should not be confused with a trial verdict on every allegation in the ten-count indictment. The DOJ plea announcement describes the plea and admissions.

Why WannaCry is part of the story—but not the charge

Hutchins became widely known in May 2017 for finding the kill-switch associated with the WannaCry ransomware outbreak. That background helps explain the public interest in his arrest and prosecution, but the 2018 indictment concerned Kronos and UPAS Kit, not WannaCry. The malware associated with the public acclaim and the malware at issue in this case are distinct matters. The court’s opinion gives this background while discussing the case.

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Case timeline

  • July 11, 2017: DOJ says the original six-count indictment was returned. Hutchins was arrested in Las Vegas on August 2, 2017, and pleaded not guilty to that indictment. DOJ’s 2018 announcement.
  • June 5–7, 2018: A grand jury returned the ten-count superseding indictment on June 5; prosecutors announced it June 7. DOJ announcement.
  • February 11, 2019: The district court denied suppression and dismissal motions, without deciding guilt. Court opinion.
  • May 2, 2019: Hutchins pleaded guilty to two counts connected to Kronos and UPAS Kit. DOJ plea announcement.

The May 2019 DOJ release said sentencing was scheduled for July 26, 2019. The sources cited here do not establish the sentence imposed, so no sentencing outcome is stated.

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