Roger B. Handberg, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida
Orlando, Florida – Michael Scheuer, a 39-year-old resident of Orlando, has pleaded guilty to charges related to cyber intrusions against his former employer. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg. Scheuer admitted guilt to one count of knowingly transmitting a program, code, or command to a protected computer and intentionally causing damage without authorization, as well as one count of aggravated identity theft.
Scheuer could face up to 10 years in federal prison for the computer fraud charge and a mandatory minimum sentence of two years for the aggravated identity theft charge. The date for sentencing has not been determined.
The plea agreement details that Scheuer engaged in several computer attacks on his former employer after being terminated. These attacks included altering allergen information on restaurant menus to falsely indicate safety for customers with certain allergies and changing menu details about wine regions to suggest locations of recent mass shootings. Additionally, Scheuer executed denial-of-service attacks aimed at preventing some company employees from accessing their enterprise accounts. He has agreed to surrender the computer used in these offenses.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Tampa Division Orlando Resident Agency Criminal Intrusion Cyber Squad conducted the investigation into this case. Assistant United States Attorney Robert D. Sowell is handling the prosecution.
