Ride the Lightning

Fifth Circuit Upholds Conviction and Sentencing of Former Locke Lord LLP IT Employee

January 31, 2018

Law360 (sub. req.) reported on January 29^th that the Fifth Circuit has upheld the conviction and sentencing of Anasasio Laoutaris, a former IT engineer for Locke Lord LLP. Laoutaris was found guilty of felony computer intrusion for attacks on the law firm's network in 2011 and ordered to pay $1.7 million in restitution and to serve 9 ½ years in jail.

He appealed after his sentencing in 2016, arguing that evidence at trial was insufficient because he was not proved to be the person who accessed Locke's network and caused the damage. He further argued that the sentence was unfair.

A three-judge panel affirmed the lower court's conviction, saying "Contrary to his assertions, there was ample circumstantial evidence identifying him as the perpetrator of these offenses." Court records show that Laoutaris twice accessed the firm's computer network, and on both occasions took measures that "caused significant damage to the network," including deleting or disabling hundreds of user accounts, desktop and laptop accounts and user e-mail accounts.

Laoutaris was charged in October 2013 with transmitting a malicious code and computer intrusion causing damage to 18 administrator accounts, 356 computers and 359 user accounts, and the data and information contained in and associated with those accounts. A second count charged Laoutaris with impairing 105 server accounts and 140 computer accounts, and a third count accused him of attacking the e-mail accounts of all Locke Lord's Dallas employees.

A superseding indictment returned in February 2015 narrowed the scope of the case, charging Laoutaris with two counts of computer intrusion causing damage. According to the superseding indictment, Laoutaris' attack affected 10 or more protected computers, causing at least $5,000 in losses.

In September 2015, a jury found him guilty of both counts.

Laoutaris said he was given an unfair sentence based on an obstruction of justice adjustment that he didn't deserve. The trial court found he committed perjury in his testimony at trial, but he said the false statements he allegedly made were either actually true or at least not false.

He also claimed that the restitution charges were too high because the court included $1.46 million of lost Locke Lord revenue in the total amount of actual loss. The Fifth Circuit disagreed.

The panel said the court's obstruction finding was plausible and not clearly erroneous. It also found that the $1.46 million sum was calculated based on the testimony of Locke Lord's forensic accountant and was a reasonable estimate of lost revenue.

This was really a remarkable case demonstrating how dangerous insiders can be and the kind of amazing havoc they can wreak. Hat tip to Dave Ries.

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