Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, the founder and operator of BreachForums, has been resentenced to three more years in prison after a federal appeals court vacated his earlier light sentence.
Authorities say Fitzpatrick created and ran one of the world’s largest English-language hacker forums, where criminals bought and sold stolen data.
The Justice Department and FBI emphasized this new sentence underscores their commitment to pursuing cybercriminals who profit from hacking and child exploitation.
Rise and Fall of BreachForums
In March 2022, following the shutdown of RaidForums by law enforcement, Fitzpatrick launched BreachForums as a replacement platform.
The site quickly attracted more than 330,000 members by offering access to breached databases containing sensitive information.
Visitors could purchase stolen bank account details, social security numbers, personal contact lists, and login credentials.
Investigators found at least 888 data sets on the site, totaling over 14 billion individual records of personally identifying information.
One database included contact details for roughly 200 million users of a major U.S. social networking site, while another held records for about 87,760 InfraGard members, a public–private partnership for protecting critical infrastructure.
Fitzpatrick, 22, of Peekskill, New York, pleaded guilty to one count each of access device conspiracy, access device solicitation, and possession of child sexual abuse material.
As part of his plea agreement, he forfeited over 100 domain names tied to BreachForums, more than a dozen electronic devices, and cryptocurrency proceeds from his illegal operations.
In January 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated his original sentence of just 17 days and remanded the case for resentencing, finding the light penalty insufficient given the severity of his crimes.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said the new sentence “demonstrates the Justice Department’s unwavering commitment to bringing to justice those who seek to sell stolen data to the highest bidder.”
U.S. Attorney Erik S. Siebert for the Eastern District of Virginia highlighted the incalculable damage from Fitzpatrick’s sale of stolen personal information and CSAM.
Brett Leatherman, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Cyber Division, added that the FBI will continue dismantling criminal marketplaces and prosecuting all actors involved in cybercrime.
This prosecution also involved Trial Attorney Thomas Dougherty of the Justice Department’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Halper.
The case was brought under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation online.
Since 2020, CCIPS has secured convictions of over 180 cybercriminals and obtained court orders returning more than $350 million in victim funds.
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