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Man Who Leaked Jennifer Lawrence's Nudes Sentenced to 8 Months in Prison

George Garofano was sentenced to eight months in prison after pleading guilty for computer hacking that resulted in "The Fappening," which leaked intimate photos of actresses including Jennifer Lawrence and Scarlett Johansson.

One of the hackers responsible for the 2014 Celebgate leak of nude celebrity photos has been sentenced to eight months in prison. According to court documents obtained by TheWrap, George Garofano was sentenced on Wednesday by a Connecticut federal court after pleading guilty in April to computer hacking.

Garofano was one of four men involved in a phishing scheme that hacked into the iCloud accounts of approximately 200 iCloud accounts, including those of Hollywood actresses Jennifer Lawrence, Scarlett Johansson, Rihanna, and Kate Bosworth. Their private photos were then widely circulated on the Internet, including 4chan and Reddit, where it became known as "the Fappening."

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At the time, Lawrence described the hack as a “sex crime” and a “sexual violation.” It prompted an FBI investigation that led to the arrests of Garofano and his co-conspirators.

“It’s disgusting. The law needs to be changed, and we need to change,” Lawrence told Vanity Fair. “I just can’t imagine being that detached from humanity. I can’t imagine being that thoughtless and careless and so empty inside.”

According to a press release from the US Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut, Garofano “admitted that he sent e-mails to victims that appeared to be from security accounts of Apple and encouraged the victims to send him their usernames and passwords, or to enter them on a third-party website, where he would later retrieve them."

Then, “Garofano used the usernames and passwords to access his victims’ iCloud accounts, which allowed him to steal personal information, including sensitive and private photographs and videos. In some instances, Garofano traded the usernames and passwords, as well as the materials he stole from the victims, with other individuals.”

After his prison term, Garofano must also serve three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to perform 60 hours of community service.

So far, Garofano has received the shortest sentence of the four men arrested for the hack. TheWrap reports that Ryan Collins was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Edward Majerczyk has been ordered to serve nine months, and one other man, Emilio Herrera, is still waiting to be sentenced.