Former Gray Wireline Employee Admits to Computer Intrusion
| U.S. Attorney’s Office December 02, 2010 |
United States Attorney John E. Murphy announced that in Midland, 37-year-old Ismael Alvarez of Andrews, Texas, faces up to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to illegally accessing his former employer’s computer database and deleting files.
Appearing before United States Magistrate Judge David Counts yesterday, Alvarez pleaded guilty to an Information charging him with one count of computer fraud. By pleading guilty, Alvarez admitted that on September 1, 2010, he illegally gained access to the computer system of Gray Wireline, Inc., and deleted approximately 68 files, including analysis reports on oil and natural gas wells in Odessa, Levelland, Denver City, and Andrews, Texas. As a result, Gray Wireline estimates that it had to spend approximately $16,000 to correct and remedy the damage caused by Alvarez.
No sentencing date has been set.
This case was investigated by special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney John Klassen is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.