Romanian Hacker 'Guccifer' Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for High Profile Cyberattacks
He admitted breaking into email of government officials and others.
— -- The Romanian hacker known as "Guccifer" was sentenced today to 52 months in federal prison for crimes connected to hacking the computers of numerous high-profile victims.
Marcel Lehel Lazar, 44, was indicted and extradited to the United States on charges of wire fraud, unauthorized access to a protected computer, aggravated identity theft, cyberstalking and obstruction of justice.
He plead guilty in May to one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer and one count of aggravated identity theft. He had faced up to seven years in prison.
Guccifer gained international attention for alleged hacks of former Secretary of State Colin Powell and family members of former President George W. Bush.
In May of this year, he falsely claimed to have hacked into Hillary Clinton’s private email server.
He admitted to unlawfully accessing personal information of two former U.S. presidents, a former member of the U.S. Cabinet, a former member of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and a former presidential advisor.
He also targeted private citizens because they appeared in the email contacts of other victims, according to the U.S Attorney.
From about October 2012 to January 2014, Lazar gained access to personal email and social media accounts belonging to approximately 100 Americans, according to his plea agreement.
Lazar often released his victims’ private email correspondence, medical and financial information, and personal photographs.
He used proxy servers to mask his location, as well as an ax to smash his computer when he thought he had been discovered, according to the admission.
He was extradited from Romania and first appeared before a U.S. court on April 1, 2016.
Lazar was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release, forfeit online storage accounts that contained victim information, and pay restitution to his victims.
His court-appointed attorney, Shannon Quill, declined ABC News' request for comment.
ABC News' Mike Levine contributed to this story.
