A Russian woman widely dubbed the "world's sexiest computer hacker," prosecuted in the United States for taking part in stealing $3 million from bank accounts, has been released by a New York court and placed under surveillance.
The New York Southern Federal District Court ordered Kristina Svechinskaya, 24, to pay $35,000 in damages.
Svechinskaya's attorney Richard Palma told the court that she was young and inexperienced when she was drawn into the conspiracy. Like many young people, she failed to assess what she was doing, he said, and asked the court to take into account her lack of a criminal record.
Svechinskaya, in turn, said she deeply regretted what she had done.
"This was the biggest mistake of my life and I can assure you that I will never do this again," she said.
The judge presiding over the case took into account the two months that Svechinskaya had spent in pretrial detention.
After the sentence was read, she was given 14 days to file an appeal. However, her lawyer told RIA Novosti that he was satisfied with the ruling.
Svechinskaya also told RIA Novosti that she was satisfied with the verdict. When asked what she was going to do now, she said she did not know.
According to a Department of Justice press release, Svechinskaya was recruited by a criminal group to open false bank accounts into which $35,000 in fraudulently acquired funds was deposited, and from which approximately $11,000 was withdrawn.
Svechinskaya and 37 others allegedly used dummy bank accounts, fake passports and a Zeus Trojan to appropriate $3 million from US banks and another $9 million from British banks.
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