41 lines
2.6 KiB
Plaintext
41 lines
2.6 KiB
Plaintext
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TWO JUVENILES ARRESTED IN BBS EXTORTION CASE
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(April 26)
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Two 15-year-olds have been arrested by California authorities on charges
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they made death threats and tried to extort money from at least three computer
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bulletin board operators.
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As reported in Online Today yesterday, Encino, Calif., BBS sysop John Sands
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went to police after receiving demands for money and threats on his life in
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messages left on his board in March and the first part of this month.
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Police now say that the two suspects -- both reportedly sophomores at Seaside
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High School near Monterey, Calif. -- also are accused of making similar
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computerized threats on a Fort Ord-based Army staff sergeant and his teen-age
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son, and on another student at a private high school in the Pebble Beach,
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Calif., area.
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The juveniles were arrested at their homes in Marina by investigators who
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seized computer equipment allegedly used to transmit the threats, according to
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United Press International reporter Michael D. Harris.
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Authorities say the teen-agers, who allegedly demanded payments ranging from
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$50 to $350 from at least the three BBS sysops identified, were turned over to
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their parents while authorities decide how and where they should be prosecuted.
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The case came to light yesterday after reports surfaced that legal complaints
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had been filed by Sands, who is the chief electronics engineer for Capitol
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Records. Sands, 43, said the visitors to his private BBS demanded $350 from him
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and threatened violence if he didn't pay.
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The computer message instructed Sands to leave the money at a drop site in
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San Jose. During the investigation, Los Angeles police prepared a phony drop
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but never carried it out because they susequently received tips that led them
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to the youths, said police Lt. Fred Reno.
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Following the arrests, Sands told Harris, "It was a little scary because even
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though I suspected they were juveniles, I felt they were probably capable of
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carrying out their threats. I%m sorry to see any young person get in trouble,
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but I'm relieved that they were arrested."
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Meanwhile, according to Judy Smagula Farah of the Associated Press, the
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youths and Sands once belonged to the same computer club and used a code that
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gave them access to Sands' bulletin board.
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Reno said that if the suspects decide to plead guilty to the likely charges
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of accessing a computer system to extort money, their sentencing will occur in
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Monterey County. If they decide to fight the charges, the case -- the first of
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its kind in Los Angeles County -- will be prosecuted in Southern California.
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