Following a guilty plea on January 31, Netwalker ransomware gang affiliate Sebastien Vachon-Desjardin was sentenced to seven years in prison for his involvement with the group by an Ontario court.
Vachon-Desjardins reportedly pleaded guilty to give charges regarding “theft of computer data, extortion, the payment of cryptocurrency ransoms, and participating in the activities of a criminal organization.”
On top of his sentence, Vachon-Desjardins agreed to partial restitution, forfeiture of assets seized, and a DNA order. Court documents say Vachon-Desjardins was implicated in 17 ransomware attacks that caused damages to the tune of at least $2.8 million in Canada.
“In August 2020, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (“RCMP”) received information from the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) in relation to a NetWalker ransomware affiliate operating in Gatineau Quebec. The FBI advised the RCMP that their suspect was responsible for ransomware attacks in several countries, and he was suspected to have received over $15,000,000.00 USD in ransom payments,” Ontario court judge G. Paul Renwick wrote, adding that he was told that the data seized from Vachon-Desjardins’s would fill an entire hockey arena if printed.
