Celebrity computer hacker set to stand trial

The man who is allegedly responsible for illegally linking celebrity email accounts to his own and obtaining private images will be facing a judge next week, according to Hispanic Business.

According to the website, Christopher Chaney, 35, faces 26 charges that include identity theft, unauthorized computer access and wiretapping. If convicted on all charges, he faces up to 121 years in prison.

Chaney was arrested on October 9th after the FBI investigated him as part of “Operation Hackerazzi”, which focused on the hacking of people connected to the entertainment industry, according to the site.

Chaney is accused of allegedly hacking into the emails of a number of Hollywood celebrities and using the forwarding capabilities of the accounts to send their personal emails to himself, according to the site.

Chaney pleaded not guilty to his accusations at a pretrial hearing in November, according to the Fans Share website.

Chaney is reported to have shown remorse for his actions, according to TMZ.

In an interview with television station WTEV Jacksonville, Chaney apologized for the crimes brought against him.

“It started as curiosity and it turned to just being addictive. Seeing the behind-the-scenes of what’s going on with the people you see on the big screen,” he said.

Chaney also said that he was relieved that his computers were confiscated by police and that he never sold the photos, so he was unsure of how they were leaked to the public.

According to Fox News, Chaney is responsible for obtaining the private images of starlets including Scarlett Johansson, Christina Aguilera and Jessica Alba.