A New York civil servant faces up to 15 years in prison for mining BTC in the office

by cryptheory

September 14, 2021

Reading Time: 2 mins read

A New York IT supervisor faces up to 15 years in prison for mining BTC in the office. The man, identified as Christopher Naples, allegedly hid 46 mining rigs in the offices of the Suffolk County Center in Riverhead, New York. According to the investigation, 10 of these rigs have been installed since February, consuming more than $ 6,000 in energy. But with another 36 machines found, the total energy cost could have been much higher.

A New York civil servant faces jail for BTC mining in the office

Christopher Naples, an IT technician for Suffolk County, New York, could spend up to 15 years in prison for BTC mining in his offices. According to reports, the man placed 46 mining machines in the district offices and hid them under the floor. Naples now faces charges of public corruption, theft, unauthorized access to a computer system and information carrier, and official misconduct.

The plaintiffs state that the machines consumed at least $ 6,000 of energy, while the temperature in the rooms where the miners were installed rose by 20 degrees, which affected the surrounding server rooms and offices. Timothy D. Sini, Suffolk County District Attorney, said:

“Not only did we spend thousands of dollars in taxpayers’ money to fund these operations, but it also threatened the district’s infrastructure.”

District officials also complained about poor air conditioning performance and slow internet, thanks to resources that were shared and used by mining machines hidden in offices.

Energy theft in the US is nothing new

This is not the first time a government employee has stolen energy to mine cryptocurrencies. There were several similar cases. The New York Department of Education has cases from 2013 and 2014 where employees attempted to mine BTC with company equipment.

An employee of the Federal Reserve System (FED) also tried to extract cryptocurrencies using one of the institution’s servers. The employee, Nicholas Berthaume, was fined $ 5,000 and spent 12 months on probation. In a public press release, Sini stressed:

“We will not tolerate county employees who are on a public payroll to steal taxpayers’ money and illegally use government resources for their personal gain.”

Suffolk District Official Judith A. Pascale confirmed that no Country data had been made available, modified or misused due to mining activities.

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