A 36-year-old man who hacked into the online accounts of Scarlett Johansson and Mila Kunis has been sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Christopher Chaney admitted before his trial in Los Angeles he carried out the hacking because he had become ‘addicted to spying on the Hollywood stars’ personal lives.
The former office clerk was initially charged with 28 counts related to hacking but struck a plea bargain back in March to cut it to nine felony counts, including wiretapping.
During his trial, prosecutors claimed between November 2010 and October 2011 Chaney gained access to the email accounts of over 50 individuals in the entertainment industry.
The 36-year-old was alleged to have leaked private pictures, including topless images of Johansson, to celebrity websites.
The US district court in Los Angeles was shown a video statement by the actress in which she claimed to have been ‘truly humiliated and embarrassed’ when the private images, taken for her then-husband actor Ryan Reynolds, were leaked online.
Chaney was initially arrested in October 2011 following an 11-month FBI investigation but somehow managed to continue hacking even after his personal computers were seized.
On Monday, judge S. James Otero sentenced Chaney to 120 months behind bars and ordered him to pay $66,179 in restitution to his victims.
