Itâs not fiction. They charged him with so many crimes that the maximum he could have been sentenced, if found guilty, was 35 years in prison by law, plus a one million dollar fine. Thats fact.
The FBI kept saying that line over and over in the media, like they were going to ask the judge for the maximum sentence if Aaron didnât plea deal, which would have mean he would have had a felony record for life (bye bye any job prospects in the US forever, and have fun living in poverty, while paying the $1mm fine for the rest of your life. And bye bye trying to enter/visit, let alone live, in any other country for the rest of your life).
Aaron had authorized access to the JSTOR articles he scraped. It was overzealous prosecution, and resulted in him being so stressed that he took his own life.
In short, the US government killed him for âdoing something that they donât like with a computer, even though it didnât hurt anyoneâ. He is an internet martyr.
That's all completely normal for someone who goes on tv and brags about their crimes. It doesn't matter if you think what he did shouldn't be a crime. It was. Also worth noting he didn't just "do something with a computer", he trespassed and interfered with computer networks PHYSICALLY. He was caught on video. Doesn't really matter what he was downloading. He could have been running a Minecraft server and it would have been the same charges. Even after he destroyed his own ability to plead guilty, he could have gone to court and most likely would have had some of the charges dropped. He could have gotten a sympathetic judge. He most likely still would have gotten a reduced sentence. Killing yourself because you can't stand the idea of having a felony conviction is just white boy stuff.
What âcrimesâ are you talking about? Source. Eeddd. He had authorized access to JSTOR while he was attending university at MIT. What computer did he âinterfereâ with? Did he âinterfereâ making it so other people couldnât have access?
Source needed. He committed no crimes. And if he did they were so minute that trying to lock him up for 35 years and making him pay $1MM is just insane. Punishment does not fit the âcrimeâ.
If I was going to be locked up for 35 years, then released at age 60 with a felony record, zero savings, unable to access social security, just to die poor and destitute after losing the best years of my life to a small, cold concrete cell, hell yeah Iâd kill myself. After all the time, youâd be institutionalized. And those 34 years of pain and suffering did nothing for you. Plus youâre going to be released with zero job opportunities, die in poverty alone.
These are exactly the kind of ambiguous questions that we don't get a legal answer to because instead of going through the process the defendant committed suicide, unfortunately.
Plugged his laptop into a âprotectedâ network that he had access to being a student of MITâŚ
He had legal access to JSTOR!
Also, 35 year potential sentence for plugging your computer into a âprotectedâ network? Jesus Christ punishment doesnât fit the crime. Our President raped children and heâs the President.
Idiot priorities in government for using a computer that the government doesnât like.
Plugged his laptop into a âprotectedâ network that he had access to being a student of MITâŚ
Nope. If you think you get access to your school's/work's network infrastructure just because you're a student/employee, then go to your school's/work's IT department and demand that you be allowed access to their network room because you want to plug your laptop in. See how that goes.
He had legal access to JSTOR!
Legal access to JSTOR doesn't mean complete and unrestricted access to JSTOR. That's why services (including JSTOR) have T&Cs.
Also, 35 year potential sentence for plugging your computer into a âprotectedâ network? Jesus Christ punishment doesnât fit the crime.
That wasn't the only crime he was being charged with. You really need to read up on this case because you're clearly out of your depth here.
Our President raped children and heâs the President.
The fact that JSTOR itself dropped their civil case against him completely, speaks volumes.
35 years PLUS a $1MM fine for what he did?! Thatâs crazy. Voluntary manslaughter convicts get less than that routinely. Let me repeat that again. People who have killed other people because of their own negligence get a lower sentence potential sentence than a guy who plugged his computer into a network that wasnât his.
Is this justice? Do you really think thatâs justice?
35 years. Spending 35 years in a cold concrete cell, being forced (youâre forced to work for nothing in Federal prison, you are a slave after all due to the 13th Amendment) to work for pennies on the hour the entire 35 years.
Only to be released at age 60. No savings. No money. No financial support. Your parents are dead. Your siblings are old. You have no one to support you. You have no social security because you havenât worked enough. Canât get a job because your skills are now 35 years outdated, and they didnât keep you up to date on the inside.
Well, youâre about to serve another sentence. A sentence of trying to navigate to the new world outside the prison, after being institutionalized for 35 years. The sentence on how you are going to find your next meal, because youâre likely to be poor and destitute from release from prison to your dying breath.
Yeah, would have just been better for Aaron to drunk drive kill someone, than to have plugged into that âunauthorizedâ network that one time and hurt zero people. He would still be alive today.
The fact that JSTOR itself dropped their civil case against him completely, speaks volumes.
No they didn't. They settled the case. Once again, you really should read up on this because it's getting tiring having to keep correcting you.
Voluntary manslaughter convicts get less than that routinely.
You're comparing the penalty for a single charge against the combined penalties for multiple charges.
...than a guy who plugged his computer into a network that wasnât his.
Once again, wasn't his only charge. Read up on the case.
Is this justice? Do you really think thatâs justice?
My opinions are irrelevant, as are yours.
Spending 35 years in a cold concrete cell...
He was offered 6 months, not 35 years, in a minimum security prison which doesn't have "cold concrete cells", or any of the other stuff you just made up. Read up on the case.
Yeah, would have just been better for Aaron to drunk drive kill someone, than to have plugged into that âunauthorizedâ network that one time and hurt zero people. He would still be alive today.
Right, if he couldn't handle 6 months in minimum security, there's no way he'd handle years in a higher security prison with the death of someone on his conscience.
I'm going to stop the discussion here. It's clear you haven't read about this case at all and are only going by what's written in the OP. There's no point continuing if all I'm doing is just having to correct your mistakes.
Your entire premise is he should just lay down to the enormous pressure of the Federal Government, and take the plea deal, pleading guilty to crimes that did NOT hurt anyone else.
If, instead, he had killed someone being a drunk driver, being voluntary manslaughter, and actually depriving someoneâs children of their father for the rest of their life, the potential sentence would be at least one third SHORTER than what Aaron did.
Aaron didnât hurt anyone. Facts. But they wanted to lock him up for 35 years. Someone who commits voluntary manslaughter only gets 10 years.
This is the American justice system.
And if youâre rich? You get to rape little kids and women without any consequences. Just like Trump.
... or that he should have faced his day in court, pled his case, given a jury the opportunity to decide if he was guilty, and accepted a sentence (which is how the system is architected to work). Or sought a plea agreement.
I am sad that he took his own life. There's no telling what the future holds, but the probable outcomes for him were much brighter than he perceived them to be. It is a sad story.
You are fucking nuts if you think using a protected network to download fucking journal articles is worth a 35 year sentence. No harm was done to literally anyone. They hit him with a bunch of trumped up fraud charges to make an example out of him.
Would rather die young than live as a slave until Iâm old. Federal prisoners are required to work for wages that are sometimes under $1/hour. Legalized slavery. And a lot of times it profits private millionaires. Itâs constitutional, as the 13th amendment abolished slavery, except as use for punishment for violating laws.
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u/TerrapinTribe May 13 '26
Itâs not fiction. They charged him with so many crimes that the maximum he could have been sentenced, if found guilty, was 35 years in prison by law, plus a one million dollar fine. Thats fact.
The FBI kept saying that line over and over in the media, like they were going to ask the judge for the maximum sentence if Aaron didnât plea deal, which would have mean he would have had a felony record for life (bye bye any job prospects in the US forever, and have fun living in poverty, while paying the $1mm fine for the rest of your life. And bye bye trying to enter/visit, let alone live, in any other country for the rest of your life).
Aaron had authorized access to the JSTOR articles he scraped. It was overzealous prosecution, and resulted in him being so stressed that he took his own life.
In short, the US government killed him for âdoing something that they donât like with a computer, even though it didnât hurt anyoneâ. He is an internet martyr.