Teenager Who Was Arrested Due to Involvement in Casino Cyberattacks Released

On Wednesday, a court released the teenager who turned himself in in relation to the 2023 cyberattacks that took two of the largest gaming and hospitality brands offline in Las Vegas. The outage lasted from several days to more than a week for the worst-affected property.

The teenager turned himself in on September 17 and was detained at the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center, with prosecutors insisting that the seriousness of his crime demanded that the 17-year-old be tried as an adult.

Teenager Released to His Parents Under Heavy Supervision and No Electronics

He is believed to have assisted the Scattered Spider hacker’s collective, a powerful and highly successful group of renowned hackers, also known as Octo Tempest, UNC3944, and 0ktapus, which attacked MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment in August and October of 2023.

The casino groups were not named in court, but the timeline coincides. The teenager is believed to still have access to about $1.8 million worth of Bitcoin that was derived from the attack, as well as 65,000 SSN of American citizens.

Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Summer Clarke insisted that the suspect should be detained longer, given the seriousness of the crime.

“The level of sophistication he possesses and the criminal acts he is capable of cannot be overlooked by this court. We don’t know what subject he has access to, who he has access to, or how he has access to it,” Clarke argued in court.

Lengthy Prison Sentence in the Culprit’s Future if Found Guilty

However, Family Court Judge Dee Smart Butler ultimately sided with the defense, agreeing to release the teenager to his parents instead, while mandating that the suspect is restricted from accessing any electronics, except supervised by a parent or for schoolwork.

Judge Butler did share some of Clarke’s suspicions, however, and ordered that the family, including the teenager’s grandmother, remain at a rental in Clark County and submit to supervision by investigators.

With multiple felony charges levelled against the teenager now, he could potentially face up to 15 years in prison. Defense attorneys David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld have insisted on their client’s lack of a criminal record and the fact that he was only 15 when he allegedly committed the crime.