A Washington state resident pleaded guilty this week to a felony count of conspiracy connected to an alleged scheme concocted by him and a former Deadspin editor to trespass into computer systems used by a sports league and several news organizations.
Appearing in federal court and speaking through his attorney on Monday, 24-year-old Marco Gaudino said he understood the conspiracy allegedly involving journalist Timothy Burke was a crime, and he was willing to accept full responsibility for his actions.
In exchange, federal prosecutors have agreed to not pursue additional computer hacking charges against Gaudino, and will ask a federal judge overseeing his case to punish him to the lower end of the sentencing guidelines, which could see him earn little to no prison time.
A conspiracy conviction typically carries a possible maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, though judges rarely impose harsh sentences on defendants like Gaudino, who has no prior criminal history.
Document: Read the plea agreement between Gaudino and prosecutors [Pro Access]
As first reported by The Desk earlier this month, Gaudino will have to cooperate with federal prosecutors who are pursuing a criminal case against Burke, who was indicted on more than a dozen computer hacking, electronic interception and conspiracy counts in February.
Gaudino has already provided significant support to federal investigators, to include flying across the country to meet with agents and prosecutors who are pursuing the case against Burke, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Trezevant said in federal court on Monday.
By comparison, Burke is fighting his charges, with his attorneys professing the journalists committed no crime.
Burke first drew the interest of federal investigators last spring, several months after he gave unedited video footage of Fox News programs to two news outlets in exchange for $1,500, according to court records.
Documents reviewed by The Desk and sources who spoke on condition of anonymity claim Gaudino and Burke exchanged private messages on X (formerly Twitter) for several months, to include swapping usernames and passwords that allowed Burke to access computer systems and online services associated with the National Basketball Association (NBA), CBS News Radio and Fox News Media.
In the case of the NBA, Burke was apparently able to download numerous large files, some of which contained video footage that he later posted to his personal social media accounts.
At some point, Gaudino passed along a username and password that gave Burke access to an online video transmission service operated by LiveU. The credentials were accidentally posted to the website of a CBS News Radio affiliate in Tennessee, and a station official told The Desk last year that they did not intend for anyone to actually use them.
Still, Burke did use them, grabbing numerous raw and unedited video footage associated with Fox News shows, including a program hosted by former Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson.
Attorneys representing Burke say the video clips were found via unencrypted web addresses that anyone could access without authentication, and that the LiveU system automatically downloaded a list of these web addresses whenever someone logged in. Law enforcement sources and people familiar with the operation of the specific LiveU service say Burke’s attorneys are wrong.
On Monday, Burke and his attorneys seemed unfazed by Gaudino’s plea agreement, even though the deal reached with federal prosecutors means the Washington man is likely to testify against Burke if his case proceeds to trial.
“Tim Burke has never met the man and doesn’t know him at all,” Mark Rasch, one of Burke’s defense attorneys, told reporters.
Burke continues to maintain his innocence, and has entered a plea of not guilty.
