January 11, 2001.
Backstage West
ARTICLE TITLE: Breakdowns Scammers Plead Guilty
Written by Laura Weinert
Fifty-eight-year-old Manhattan Beach resident Valerie Fee, the ''mother and wife of actors,'' and 21-year-old actor-turned-hacker Chad Horton, of Macon, Ga., pled guilty as charged at a preliminary hearing on Jan. 8 for the criminal case involving the illegal theft and sale of breakdowns over the Internet.
Horton, also known... Show more
January 11, 2001.
Backstage West
ARTICLE TITLE: Breakdowns Scammers Plead Guilty
Written by Laura Weinert
Fifty-eight-year-old Manhattan Beach resident Valerie Fee, the ''mother and wife of actors,'' and 21-year-old actor-turned-hacker Chad Horton, of Macon, Ga., pled guilty as charged at a preliminary hearing on Jan. 8 for the criminal case involving the illegal theft and sale of breakdowns over the Internet.
Horton, also known as Patrick James, hacked into the Breakdown Services website and discovered passwords that allowed him to view the online listings of casting descriptions that are only available to agents. For the next year and half, Horton sold the breakdowns to actors over the Web for $15-$40 a month, distributing them via e-mail to buyers such as Valerie Fee (also known as Juliebaby), who, in turn, was also charging actors to receive this information.
The scheme was discovered when Fee sold one of the lists to the head of Breakdown's New York office, who then reported her to the police. Horton's original break-in to the Breakdown Services site had also been detected, as the site is coded to track such illegal activity. ''He was going into the site daily for the next year,'' said detective Christopher John Hapsas of the L.A. County Sheriff's Department high-tech crime unit, who led the investigation. ''We were watching him every night as he came in and that's how we eventually traced him back. The Internet Provider address leaves your fingerprints everywhere you go, so in writing a search warrant, we able to trace it back to a GTE account and we knew it was coming out of Georgia.''
The two cases weren't linked, however, until Hapsas issued a search warrant for Fee's home and computer, where he discovered breakdowns, e-mail lists, and correspondence with Horton's e-mail address. ''Using the registered home address Horton had provided to his Internet Service provider, we were able to put together a nice map of where Mr. Horton's home was.'' A search and seizure of Horton's computer revealed that Horton was indeed at the top of a money-making pyramid, selling breakdowns to 50 to 100 people. ''Every person that he sold to mostly likely was turning around and selling to 30 other people,'' said Hapsas, ''and each of those people were selling to 30 other people.''
Fee, who only constituted one branch of what seems to have been a large tree, had been selling breakdowns for $15-$25 dollars for at least some six to eight months to approximately 30 people. When interviewed by Hapsas, both defendants claimed that they were originally using the breakdowns only for personal use, but discovered that others could use them as well, and that they could recover some of their money by selling them. ''This is their story,'' said Hapsas, ''but realistically they were doing it for profit. They were both making a pretty good side income off of the sales of stolen product.''
In Horton's case, those profits may have totaled $1,000 a month. ''When we searched his home, we were able to see that he had recently purchased a brand new high-end computer and a lot of neat toys,'' said Hapsas. ''We found receipts for that at his home.''
Horton, who has been held in custody in Los Angeles at $25,000 bail, pled guilty to charges of grand theft, receiving stolen property, and computer fraud. While Horton's sentencing will not occur until Feb. 22, Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Fairtlough has asked for three years of probation, 180 days in jail, restitution fines of up to $147,000. Charged with receiving stolen property, Fee was sentenced to 60 days of jail or structured community service, three years of probation, during which she is prohibited from associating with Horton, and must submit all her property to search or seizure if asked. Fee was ordered to pay $10,000 to Breakdown Services in addition to a $200 restitution fund fee.
Head of Breakdown Services Gary Marsh and company vice president Peter Weiss were present at the preliminary hearing, where Fee received her sentencing. ''One of the horrible things is that people think it is OK to receive breakdowns this way,'' said Marsh, ''but it is stolen property and comes with criminal penalties. These are people putting money in their own pockets while putting actors at risk of being prosecuted.'' Marsh reported that he is currently investigating another theft scheme of similar scale.
Courtesy of Backstage West: https://www.backstage.com
January 4, 2001.
Backstage West
ARTICLE TITLE: Hearings To Begin for Breakdown Bust
Written by Laura Weinert
Preliminary hearings are set to begin on Jan. 8 for 21-year-old actor Chad Horton and Valerie Fee, both who were involved in a year-long scam involving hacking into the website of Breakdown Services and selling stolen material to actors. Horton was extradited from Georgia, flown to Los Angeles, and arrested on Dec. 12. He has been held in custody with a $25,000 bail. Charged with one count each of grand theft, receiving stolen property, and computer fraud, Horton allegedly hacked into the computer system of Breakdown Services, stole breakdowns, and sold them to actors he met in Internet chat rooms. "Breakdowns" are summaries of available roles, which the Breakdown Services company prepares from scripts and provides to agents.
Valerie Rochelle Fee, also known as "Juliebaby," has been charged with grand theft and receiving stolen property. Fee allegedly purchased some of the breakdowns and resold them. The scheme was discovered when Fee sold one of the lists to the head of Breakdown's New York office. Since January of 1999, the New York and Los Angeles police departments have been involved in gathering evidence and tracking the crimes, which continued through March of 2000. Gary Marsh, the head of Breakdown Services has also been instrumental in building the case, which is being handled by Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Fairtlough.
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