Tampa Man Indicted For Unauthorized Computer Intrusion And Related Violations Of The Wiretap Act

Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the unsealing of an indictment charging Timothy Burke (45, Tampa) with conspiracy, unauthorized access of protected computers, and violations of the Wiretap Act. If convicted on all counts, Burke faces a maximum penalty of 62 years in federal prison. The indictment also notifies Burke that the United States is seeking forfeiture of a website domain and 20 computer-related devices used to commit the charged criminal conduct, and $1,500, the proceeds of certain charged criminal conduct.  

According to the indictment, Burke and Conspirator 2 secured and used compromised credentials—usernames and passwords—to gain unauthorized access to protected computers owned or used by the victim entities, namely the “National Sports League” and “StreamCo,” and to obtain and steal information from those entities’ computers. As to the StreamCo-related conduct, the indictment further alleges that Burke and Conspirator 2: (1) used the compromised credentials to access a website of the StreamCo-Net, a StreamCo service that allowed its broadcaster-customers to record and transmit high-resolution encoded content and communications over the Internet; (2) obtained and stole StreamCo proprietary information from that website; and then (3) used that stolen StreamCo proprietary information to intercept, download, and save the StreamCo broadcaster-customers’ streams. The indictment also specifies two StreamCo broadcaster-customers impacted by the charged conduct.     

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Tampa Field Office – Cyber Squad. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jay G. Trezevant and James A. Muench.