'Guccifer' to be extradited to US after serving of sentence in Romania

The Court of Appeals (CA) Alba Iulia on Monday admitted the demand of extradition to the United States of America of the hacker Marcel Lehel Lazar, alias 'Guccifer' or 'Little Smoke' his extradition being postponed until he is released on parole or after the serving of the 7-year sentence he has in Romania, reads the website of the said CA. 

CA Alba Iulia found that extradition conditions are met as regards Lazar and admitted the US authorities' request, as it is recorded at the International Law and Judicial Cooperation Department with the Justice Ministry on 8 August. 

'It decides the extradition of the Romanian citizen - extraditable person Lazar Marcel Lehel with a view to executing 52-month jail with deduction of the period already executed in custody from 01.09.2016 till 12.10.2016, as applied through the criminal sentence issued on 01.09.2016 by the US Court - East Virginia District - Alexandria Section (...) for the crimes of: - unauthorized access to a protected computerized system (...); qualified identity theft (...),' the solution says. 

The court has decided to postpone the handing over of the extraditable person until he is released on parole or until he executes his 7-year sentence. 

Last week, the said person was held in provisional custody with a view to being extradited, an arrest warrant being issued that is to become effective at the date Lazar will no longer be under the power of the warrant for the enforcement of the sentence issued by the Bucharest Court in 2014. 

The decision can be contested within 5 days from issuance. 

Marcel Lehel Lazar, alias "Guccifer" or "Little Smoke" became famous after he broke into the e-mail accounts of certain personalities from Romania and the USA. 

He is currently serving a 7-year sentence at the Barcea Mare penitentiary facility, the Hunedoara County. The hacker was condemned in 2014 for repeatedly and unlawfully accessing, by breaking the security rules, the e-mail accounts belonging to certain public persons in Romania, so as to get into the possession of some confidential data in the said electronic mail. Romania's current ambassador to the US, George Maior, and current European Commissioner Corina Cretu, were among the persons whose e-mails were hacked by 'Guccifer'. 

Last month, the Deva Court rejected as ungrounded according to information posted on its website, the release on parole formulated by Lazar. 

He was sentenced to jail in 2016 by a federal court of Alexandria, East Virginia, USA, after pleading guilty to two of the nine charges, namely the accusations of unauthorized access to a protected computerised system and qualified identity theft. He was extradited in the spring of 2016, from Romania to the US, during the judicial procedures, and was brought back to Romania in October 2016 and initially jailed at Rahova Bucharest. 

The potential role of Marcel Lazar Lehel in the investigation regarding the hacking of the e-mail account of Hillary Clinton was for the first time brought to the public opinion by Fox News in the spring of 2016. The e-mail account of the former Secretary of State contained around 2,200 classified information e-mails and other 22 Top Secret information. 

Lazar is suspected of hacking approximately 100 e-mail accounts from 2012 to 2014. The former Secretary of State Colin Powel, a person close to Hillary Clinton, Sidney Blumenthal, members of the Bush and Rockefeller families, alongside US stars are among the targeted persons. 

In Romania, 'Guciffer' hacked the e-mail and Facebook accounts of some public persons: Corina Caragea, Laura Cosoi, Rona Hartner, Bianca Dragusanu or Cristian Pulhac.