Nintendo Hacker's Physical Health Reportedly At Risk Amidst Jail Sentence
Gary Bowser was sentenced to 40 months in prison earlier this year for his role as part of the Xecuter hacking group, which made illegal mod chips that allowed users to pirate software on Nintendo consoles (mostly the Switch). The hacker group made tens of millions of dollars over years of operation, which is why Nintendo asked for the maximum five-year sentence for Bowser in addition to the $14.5 million he'd already been ordered to pay in fines.
According to newly unveiled court transcripts obtained by Axios and Kotaku, we now know that U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik seemed more sympathetic to Nintendo than Bowser during the trial. At one point, Lasnik noted how popular media often portrays hackers as Robin Hood-like characters "sticking it to the man," and asked Nintendo lawyer Ajay Singh: “What else can we do to convince people that there’s no glory in this hacking/piracy?”
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Singh replied, "There would be a large benefit to further education of the public," adding elsewhere that Bowser's case represented a "unique opportunity" to send a message to hackers everywhere.
Bowser's lawyer argued that his client was not one of Xecuter's leaders and a five-year sentence would have been excessive, especially considering he'd already spent 16 months in jail before his trial even began. Bowser's lawyer also noted his client's health conditions which made prison life especially difficult. Bowser suffers from a leg condition that has left him wheelchair bound, and has been unable to seek medical treatment due to his incarceration.
"It has been a very traumatic experience for me getting arrested, coming here, going through this," said Bowser when he took the
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