US man to file guilty-plea in celeb hack case

He agreed to the plea after authorities said he illegally accessed private phone and email accounts of celebrities such as Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence to leak information including nude pictures. 

Prosecutors said in court documents that between November 2012 and September 2014, Collins “knowingly, intentionally, and in furtherance of criminal and tortuous acts” accessed at least 50 Apple iCloud accounts and about 72 Google Gmail accounts belonging to more than 100 people. 

The US attorney for the Central District of California charged Ryan Collins, 36, from Pennsylvania, on Tuesday. 

Collins signed a plea agreement to plead guilty to a felony violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. He faces up to five years in federal prison, with a recommended prison term of 18 months and a fine of $250,000. 

The case has been transferred to the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Collins will be sentenced at a later date. While no victims were named in the court documents, Lawrence and other celebrities such as actresses Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union and model Kate Upton addressed the leak and online dissemination of their nude photos in interviews.