Former Navy IT Manager Marquis Asaad Hooper, 32, of Selma was sentenced Monday to five years and five months in prison for hacking a computer database that contained personal identity information and selling it, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court records, in August 2018, Hooper opened an online account with a company that runs a database with identity info for millions of people. The company restricts access to businesses and government agencies that have a demonstrated need for the information.
However, Hooper — a chief petty officer with the Navy’s Seventh Fleet in Japan — opened his database account by falsely representing that the Navy needed him to perform background checks.
Sold Stolen Info for $160,000 in Bitcoin
After Hooper opened his database account, he added his wife and co-defendant, Natasha Renee Chalk, to the account. They then stole more than 9,000 identity files and sold them on the dark web for $160,000 in Bitcoin. Chalk was a naval reservist stationed at Naval Air Station Lemoore at that time.
Hooper left the Navy in October 2018 and, two months later, his database account was closed for suspected fraud. Thereafter, Hooper, Chalk, and an unindicted co-conspirator unsuccessfully tried to regain access to the database.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the FBI, and Homeland Security Investigations.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Barton is prosecuting the case.
Chalk is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 20, 2023.