Prosecutor release

# Justice Department Announces Arrest of the Founder of One of the World’s Largest Hacker Forums and Disruption of Forum’s Operation

United States Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Virginia, March 24, 2023. Forum shutdown decision, staff statements, sentencing and resentencing history.

**Source type:** Prosecutor release

**Published:** March 24, 2023

**Research grade:** P1

**Used in entries:** 4

## Bibliographic record

**Publisher:** United States Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Virginia

**Published:** March 24, 2023

**Source type:** Prosecutor release

**Research grade:** Source grade P1

**Language:** English

**Official record:** Official publication

**Address:** [https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/justice-department-announces-arrest-founder-one-worlds-largest-hacker-forums-and](https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/justice-department-announces-arrest-founder-one-worlds-largest-hacker-forums-and)

**What it supports:** Forum shutdown decision, staff statements, sentencing and resentencing history

**Dataset id:** src\_news\_breachforums\_2023

## Research notes

- Replaced generic specialist-reporting stub with official DOJ arrest/disruption release.

How this source is used

Cited 4 times across 4 record types.

The role on each citation records what the source was relied on for. A primary source establishes the fact, a supporting source corroborates it, technical evidence describes the infrastructure, and a later outcome records what happened afterwards.

Sources were reviewed to a research cutoff of August 23, 2026. Addresses recorded after that date are not reflected here.

## Cited by

### Takedown records

1 citation

Cited on the takedown record itself.

-
[BreachForums shutdown following administrator arrest](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/breachforums-shutdown-following-administrator-arrest)

Fraud and stolen data, March 2023

Supporting source

### Organization roles

1 citation

Cited for an organization's recorded role in a takedown.

-
[U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/breachforums-shutdown-following-administrator-arrest)

Investigating, BreachForums shutdown following administrator arrest

Supporting source

### Legal actions against people

1 citation

Cited for a recorded legal action against a named person.

-
[Conor Brian Fitzpatrick](https://takedownindex.org/people/conor-brian-fitzpatrick)

Sentenced, BreachForums shutdown following administrator arrest

Supporting source

### Later activity

1 citation

Cited for activity recorded after the takedown.

-
[BreachForums under ShinyHunters and Baphomet](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/breachforums-shutdown-following-administrator-arrest)

Partial operator continuity, BreachForums shutdown following administrator arrest

Supporting source

[All sources](https://takedownindex.org/sources)