NewCardDude
06-17-2004, 06:01 PM
Associated Press
MILWAUKEE - A man accused of vandalizing utility equipment, causing dozens of power outages in northeastern Wisconsin, was sentenced Thursday to nearly 21 years in prison.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman sentenced Joseph Konopka, 27, formerly of Hobart in Brown County, for six federal crimes, including arson, software piracy, destruction of property and vandalism.
Konopka would serve the first nearly 11 years of the sentence at the same time he finishes a 13-year prison term from Illinois, where he was sentenced in 2003 for hiding bottles of cyanide in tunnels of Chicago's subway system.
Konopka will serve a total of about 23 years in prison along with five years of supervised release in Illinois.
Adelman also ordered him to pay more than $435,000 in restitution to various victims.
The Wisconsin charges stem from a crime spree in which power substations, radio transmitters and utility facilities were damaged.
Prosecutors said Konopka was responsible for 28 power outages affecting 30,000 customers and 20 other service interruptions in 1999. Damage was estimated at $800,000.
Konopka, a former computer systems administrator who went by the online name "Dr. Chaos," had pleaded guilty to the charges in December 2002 and faced up to 90 years in prison. Federal prosecutors recommended in the plea agreement that Konopka be sentenced to 20 years in prison.
MILWAUKEE - A man accused of vandalizing utility equipment, causing dozens of power outages in northeastern Wisconsin, was sentenced Thursday to nearly 21 years in prison.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman sentenced Joseph Konopka, 27, formerly of Hobart in Brown County, for six federal crimes, including arson, software piracy, destruction of property and vandalism.
Konopka would serve the first nearly 11 years of the sentence at the same time he finishes a 13-year prison term from Illinois, where he was sentenced in 2003 for hiding bottles of cyanide in tunnels of Chicago's subway system.
Konopka will serve a total of about 23 years in prison along with five years of supervised release in Illinois.
Adelman also ordered him to pay more than $435,000 in restitution to various victims.
The Wisconsin charges stem from a crime spree in which power substations, radio transmitters and utility facilities were damaged.
Prosecutors said Konopka was responsible for 28 power outages affecting 30,000 customers and 20 other service interruptions in 1999. Damage was estimated at $800,000.
Konopka, a former computer systems administrator who went by the online name "Dr. Chaos," had pleaded guilty to the charges in December 2002 and faced up to 90 years in prison. Federal prosecutors recommended in the plea agreement that Konopka be sentenced to 20 years in prison.