US Court Hands Prison Terms To Co-Defendants Of Russia's Grichishkin - Justice Department

US Court Hands Prison Terms to Co-Defendants of Russia's Grichishkin - Justice Department

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2021) A US court has handed prison terms to two Eastern European individuals for their roles in the cyber crime related to the case of Russian national Aleksandr Grichishkin, the Department of Justice said on Wednesday.

"On June 28 and Oct. 20, Chief Judge Denise Page Hood of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan sentenced Pavel Stassi, 30, of Estonia, to 24 months in prison; and Aleksandr Skorodumov, 33, of Lithuania, to 48 months in prison, for their roles in the scheme," the statement read.

Both men were members of a bulletproof hosting organization founded and led by their two co-defendants, Russian citizens Aleksandr Grichishkin and Andrei Skvortsov, the statement added, citing court documents.

They rented IP-addresses, servers and domains to their cybercriminal clients

"Malware hosted by the organization included Zeus, SpyEye, Citadel, and the Blackhole Exploit Kit, which attacked U.S. companies and financial institutions between 2009 and 2015 and caused or attempted to cause millions of Dollars in losses to US victims," the statement said.

All four co-defendants each pleaded guilty to one count of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) conspiracy. The US court has no specific date of sentencing for Grichishkin, while Skvortsov's sentencing will take place later this year.

Grichishkin and Skvortsov may face up to 20 years, the statement said.