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On October 5, 2016, federal prosecutors announced that Zachary Buchta, 19, of Maryland, and Bradley Jan Willem van Rooy, 19, of the Netherlands, had been charged with conspiring to damage protected computers. The complaint tied the investigation to Lizard Squad and PoodleCorp and alleged denial-of-service attacks, attack-for-hire services and stolen payment card information. Those were accusations, not findings of guilt.
Who was arrested?
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois identified the defendants as Zachary Buchta, 19, of Fallston, Maryland, and Bradley Jan Willem van Rooy, 19, of Leiden, Netherlands. Both had been arrested the month before the announcement. Prosecutors said Buchta was arrested in Maryland; van Rooy was arrested in the Netherlands and remained in Dutch custody when the announcement was issued.
The announcement described different procedural circumstances: Buchta was due to make an initial appearance in U.S. court, while van Rooy was still in Dutch custody. It did not provide a complete person-by-person account of which alleged acts were attributed to each defendant.
What did prosecutors allege?
The criminal complaint alleged a conspiracy connected with Lizard Squad and PoodleCorp. As summarized by prosecutors, the alleged activity involved websites offering denial-of-service attacks for hire, attacks that disrupted access to computer systems, and trafficking in stolen payment card account information. The complaint further alleged that the services facilitated “thousands of denial-of-service attacks” and that the card information involved “thousands of victims.” Those figures are allegations reported in the case announcement, not independently established totals.
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Federal prosecutors charged Buchta and van Rooy with conspiring to cause damage to protected computers. The DOJ release stated that the charge carried a maximum sentence of ten years. That was the statutory maximum described when charges were announced—not a sentence imposed on either defendant. The release also said that, if convicted, a court would determine a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and advisory guidelines.
What happened to the websites?
According to the DOJ announcement, a federal court in Chicago ordered the seizure of four domains associated with the alleged conspiracy:
shenron.lizardsquad.orglizardsquad.orgstresser.poodlecorp.orgpoodlecorp.org
The seizure was a court-ordered action against the named domains; it was not a finding that either defendant was guilty.
How did authorities in two countries work together?
The U.S. Attorney’s Office credited U.S. agencies and Dutch authorities with assisting the investigation, including the Dutch Regional Criminal Investigation Service and the Dutch Prosecutor’s Office. The arrests in Maryland and the Netherlands, together with that cooperation, made the case a cross-border law-enforcement effort.
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Were the defendants convicted?
The October 5, 2016 announcement establishes that charges were filed and describes the allegations at that time; it does not establish the later disposition of the U.S. case. An arrest or criminal complaint is not proof of guilt. As the U.S. Attorney’s Office cautioned: “The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt.” It said the defendants were presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government would have to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, October 5, 2016.
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