A Belgian hacker, in prison in Milan, wishes to appear in Belgium to avoid a 22-year sentence in the United States
Kevin D., a native of Mechelen (Flanders), is imprisoned in Italy. He was to be compared soon before the criminal court of Mechelen. Texas authorities want to prosecute him for hacking into a major airline’s computer system. If he is convicted in our country, there can be no extradition of the 28-year-old man to the United States, where he faces 22 years in prison!
Kevin D, who has had fun in recent years infiltrating computer systems, has already been convicted of hacking in the past. The young man has already been sanctioned before the Mechelen court after having hacked, among other things, the computer systems of a cinema and those of the telecom operator Mobistar at the time, can we read in the Flemish press this Wednesday.
It has been proven to break into airline systems as well. For example, he booked several free tickets in business class, at Brussels Airlines but also at American Airlines.
And the Americans take the matter very seriously. American Airlines filed suit and a Texas court issued an international arrest warrant. Belgium refused to cooperate with an extradition of Kevin D., but when he wanted to attend a football match in Milan, he was arrested.
He is in prison in Milan
Since then, he has been incarcerated in San Vittore prison in Milan, where he awaits news. The Supreme Court and the competent Italian minister have already given the green light to the extradition to the United States, but together with their Italian colleagues, lawyers Frédéric Thiebaut and Sven Mertens succeeded in temporarily suspending the procedure, until mid -september. In the meantime, a procedure has also been introduced in Belgium. This is why Kevin will now have to be compared before the criminal court of Mechelen for computer fraud.
In this way, the lawyers hope to permanently block the extradition. A person can only be convicted once for the same offences. If the judge in Mechelen pronounces a conviction against Kevin D., an additional conviction in the United States is therefore no longer possible. He faces 22 years in prison in Texas. It is much more than the maximum sentences of five and two years respectively that he risks in Belgium for external hacking and computer fraud.
A family drama
Kevin’s parents were able to visit their son for the first time in June in the Italian prison. What did not support the father, Alex. He died of a heart attack shortly thereafter. “It’s a tragedy for the whole family”, said defense lawyer Frédéric Thiebaut. “We would like this nightmare to end as soon as possible.”