By Forum Staff
On Monday, in federal court in Brooklyn, Sagar Steven Singh pled guilty before United
States Magistrate Judge Marcia M. Henry to conspiring to commit computer intrusion and aggravated identify theft. On May 30, 2024, Nicholas Ceraolo, of Queens, pled guilty before Judge Henry to the same offenses. Singh and Ceraolo were charged in March 2023.
When sentenced, the defendants each face a minimum sentence of two years in prison, and a maximum of seven years.
Singh and Ceraolo belonged to a group called “ViLE,” the logo of which includes the body of a hanging girl. Members of ViLE sought to collect victims’ personal information, including social security numbers. ViLE then posted that information (or threatened to post it) on a public website administered by a ViLE member – an action known as “doxxing.” Victims could pay to have their information removed from or kept off the website.
Singh and Ceraolo unlawfully used a law enforcement officer’s stolen password to access a nonpublic, password-protected online portal (the “Portal”) maintained by a U.S. federal law enforcement agency. The purpose of the Portal was to share intelligence from government databases with state and local law enforcement agencies, and the Portal provided access to detailed, nonpublic records of narcotics and currency seizures, as well as law enforcement intelligence reports.
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When sentenced, the defendants each face a minimum sentence of two years in prison, and a maximum of seven years.
Singh wrote to a victim (Victim-1) that he would “harm” Victim-1’s family unless
Victim-1 gave Singh the credentials for Victim-1’s Instagram accounts. In order to drive home the threat, Singh appended Victim-1’s social security number, driver’s license number, home address and other personal details. Singh told Victim-1 that he had “access to [] databases, which are federal, through [the] portal, i can request information on anyone in the US doesn’t matter who, nobody is safe.” He added: “you’re gonna comply to me if you don’t want anything negative to happen to your parents.” Singh ultimately directed Victim-1 to sell Victim-1’s accounts and give the proceeds to Singh.
After Singh and Ceraolo accessed the Portal, they both acknowledged knowing that their conduct was criminal. Ceraolo wrote to Singh: “were [sic] all gonna get raided one of these days i swear.” Later that day, Singh wrote to a contact that the “portal [] i accessed i was not supposed to be there not one bit.” Singh said he had “jacked into a police officer’s account” and “that portal had some f***ing potent tools.” Singh continued: “it gave me access to gov databases,” followed by the names of five search tools accessible through the Portal.
“The defendants called themselves ‘ViLe,’ and their actions were exactly that,” said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace.
