IT Specialist Convicted on Cyber Hacking Charges Sentenced

A three-year prison sentence has been handed a man found guilty of hacking the servers of a northern Illinois company after he was fired.

Edward Soybel, a former computer technician for Lake Forest-based W.W. Grainger, was convicted by a federal jury in December of 12 counts of computer hacking. The 35-year-old Soybel of Chicago acted after the industrial supply company fired him in 2016 for “unprofessional conduct” and punctuality issues.

Soybel was awaiting trial when he shared a video online in which he threatened to shoot FBI agents, burn the houses of prosecution witnesses and kill the lead prosecutor.

Although Soybel never acted on his threats, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly on Wednesday said he was imposing a harsher sentence than he otherwise would because of Soybel’s words.

Soybel’s attorney, Vadim Glozman, said his client’s outbursts were the culmination of mounting pressures in his life.

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