Hacker who stole and exchanged unreleased songs of famous musicians for bitcoins was sentenced to a year and a half in prison

A man who stole unreleased songs by Ed Sheeran and other musicians has been sentenced to a year and a half in prison. He sold at least two Sheeran songs on the darknet in exchange for bitcoins.

The investigation began in 2019 when several music agents complained to the New York District Attorney that someone had used the online accounts of some of their clients. It turned out that an unknown hacker named «Speardark» began stealing unreleased content and selling it on the darknet, receiving payment in BTC.

The crypto account that received the BTC was linked to a 23-year-old man from Ipswich, UK, named Adrian Kwiatkowski. He was arrested later that year. Police confiscated seven devices from his home in Ipswich, including more than a thousand unreleased songs by 89 artists.

Along with this, the authorities found a bitcoin wallet containing BTC, which he kept after receiving payment in cryptocurrency in exchange for some songs he sold on the darknet. Two of the songs belonged to the UK megastar Ed Sheeran.

The criminal pleaded guilty in Ipswich Magistrates' Court in August to several charges. These included three charges of unauthorized access to computer systems, 14 charges of selling copyrighted material, two charges of possession of criminally acquired property, and one charge of money laundering. The court sentenced the hacker to 18 months in prison.