UPDATE: Matt Weaver pleads guilty, faces a 27 to 33 month sentence.
Former CSUSM student candidate and hate tabloid editor learns about karma
Read the federal complaint: United States of America v. Matthew Weaver.
The Cougar Chronicle
(and they should be proud—it’s the best of the bunch)
FBI charges ex-CSUSM student Matt Weaver in multipronged election fraud probe
By Kristin Melody
SAN DIEGO — Former CSUSM student Matthew Weaver was charged in federal court Friday on multiple counts of fraud related to his arrest last spring on suspicion of using stolen student passwords to allegedly rig the 2012 Associated Students, Inc. election. …
A PowerPoint presentation found on his laptop at the time of his arrest describe[s] a plan to have four of his fellow fraternity brothers at Tau Kappa Epsilon (banned from campus several years ago for several violations) run as a slate for other open ASI vice president posts (each paying $7,000).
According to the report, Weaver attached at least 15 keylogging devices to 19 university computers about two months before the election to gather fellow students’ user names and passwords. …
According to the report, IITS staffers remotely accessed the computer to watch Weaver’s onscreen activity. Another officer used a cell phone video camera to capture 20 minutes of film in which Weaver can be seen cutting and pasting usernames and passwords from his spreadsheet into the campus voting system, the report says.
Read more here.
10 News
Student faces federal charges, accused of trying to rig Cal State San Marcos election
After gathering evidence, Weaver was arrested this week and charged with wire fraud, access device fraud and computer fraud. He faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted. A federal complaint alleges Weaver tried to win the student body presidency and four vice-presidencies for himself and his fraternity brothers. The positions are paid positions and they stood to make $36,000 from stipends of the combined positions.
Read more here.
NBC San Diego
Student Candidate Arrested, Charged With Fraud
A spokesperson for the FBI said this case sends a strong message about computer hacking.
“They may think that that’s not a big thing,” said the FBI’s Darrell Foxworth. “It won’t get them in trouble. And I’m here to tell you that it can get you in trouble. It can create big problems for you.”
Weaver was also charged with unauthorized access of a computer. He appeared in federal court Friday where a federal judge set his bond at 20 thousand dollars, and ordered him to return to court later this month.
Read more here.
Fox Psneus
FBI arrests Cal State San Marcos student body candidate
“It was something that rose to the level that it did violate federal charges,” said Darrell Foxworth, Special Agent with FBI.
Matthew Weaver, a junior at Cal State San Marcos was arrested Thursday by the federal agency.
He is charged with fraud, access device fraud and unauthorized access to a computer.
Court documents obtained by Fox 5 showed Weaver was stealing the identification and passwords of fellow students.
Read more here.