A Jordanian man accused of selling stolen access to corporate networks has pleaded guilty in a US federal court, admitting he sold unauthorized login credentials tied to dozens of companies. The Department of Justice confirmed the plea in a case that highlights how access brokers continue to play a key role in the cybercrime economy.
Feras Khalil Ahmad Albashiti, who used aliases including “r1z,” operated under those names while based in the Republic of Georgia. According to court filings and prosecutors, Albashiti sold unauthorized access to networks of at least 50 victim organizations in exchange for cryptocurrency. The sale took place on May 19, 2023, in an online forum frequented by individuals trading in malware, credentials, and hacking tools.
The person on the other end of that transaction was an undercover law enforcement officer. The information Albashiti handed over gave direct entry into the digital environments of companies that had no idea their systems were compromised. Investigators say the credentials had real value and that the total involved easily crossed the $1,000 legal threshold under federal access device fraud laws.
Albashiti was charged under Title 18 U.S.C. § 1029 (PDF), which covers fraud related to access devices. That includes usernames and passwords when used without authorization to gain something of value.
He waived indictment and pleaded guilty before US District Judge Michael A. Shipp in Trenton, New Jersey. The maximum penalty carries up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greater.
The FBI led the investigation, with support from the DOJ’s Office of International Affairs, which arranged Albashiti’s extradition from Georgia in July 2024. Sentencing is scheduled for May 11, 2026.
Prosecutors are also pursuing forfeiture of any proceeds from the offense, including substitute assets if the original property can’t be located, has been moved, or lost value. This is standard in financial cybercrime cases, especially those involving cryptocurrency.
The past few months have brought a string of wins for U.S. federal authorities in cybercrime cases. In December 2025, a Ukrainian national pleaded guilty in the United States to deploying Nefilim ransomware in a global extortion scheme that targeted companies across several countries.
That same month, two US cybersecurity professionals admitted their role in a large-scale extortion operation involving the ALPHV ransomware group. Then, in early January 2026, Bryan Fleming, the founder of pcTattletale, a commercial spyware product, pleaded guilty in a landmark federal case focused on illegal surveillance.