March 27, 2009
For more information contact:
Supervisory AUSA Karen Rhew
(850) 942-8430
FAMU STUDENT CONVICTED OF CONSPIRACY, UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS
OF FAMU COMPUTER SYSTEM
Tallahassee, Florida - Thomas F. Kirwin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida announced today the conviction of Marcus Barrington (23) of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and unauthorized computer access, three counts of aggravated identity theft, and one substantive count of unauthorized computer access, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 371, 1028A, 1030, 1343, and 1349. Barrington, a student at the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, was convicted at the conclusion of a five-day jury trial held in the United States District Court before the Honorable Stephan P. Mickle, United States District Judge.
Evidence presented at trial established that between June and December 2007, Barrington conspired with two other FAMU students, Christopher Jacquette and Lawrence Secrease, to access the FAMU computer system for the purpose of making unauthorized grade and residency changes. Over the course of a three month period, the conspirators caused the grades of approximately 90 FAMU students to be changed, effecting changes in approximately 650 grades overall. The grade changes increased the grade point averages of the majority of students whose grades were changed, which in turn, made these students eligible for financial aid in the form of grants, scholarships, and loans to which these students would not otherwise have been entitled. Approximately 114 of the grade changes at issue were failing “F” grades that were changed to “A” grades, which had the effect of awarding students thousands of dollars worth of credit hours to which they were not entitled. Barrington and his co-conspirators also caused the residency status of certain students to be changed from out-of-state to in-state, thus reducing the amount of tuition owed to the university by thousands of dollars. Witnesses testified that Barrington and his co-conspirators were paid fees up to $600 for some of the unauthorized changes. The conspirators were able to access the FAMU computer system by surreptitiously installing keystroke loggers on computers used by employees of the registrar’s office. The keystroke loggers enabled the conspirators to obtain the secure user names and passwords of FAMU registrar’s office employees. The conspirators then used these names and passwords to access the FAMU computer system to make both grade and residency changes. After learning that FAMU had reversed the unauthorized grade changes, the conspirators accessed the computer system a second time to change their grades back, once again improving students’ GPAs and changing failing grades to passing ones.
Barrington, who was detained pending sentencing, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment for conspiracy, a maximum of 5 years’ imprisonment for unauthorized access of a protected computer, and a consecutive mandatory minimum sentence of two years’ imprisonment for each count of aggravated identity theft. Sentencing is scheduled for June 8, 2009 at 1:30 p.m.
Mr. Kirwin commended the dedication and tenacity of the FAMU Police Department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation whose joint investigation led to today’s conviction. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Eric Mountin.