It began three years ago — April 2, 2009, to be exact, the day FBI agents swarmed 2323 Bryan Street downtown, home base for Core IP Networks, an enormous Internet server hub. At the time no one knew why – maybe something to do with a leaked copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine? The local raid, which knocked dozens of companies’ Web sites offline for quite a while, quickly became national news. And all the while, Core IP Networks’ CEO Matthew Simpson insisted, “Neither I, nor Core IP are involved in any illegal activities of any kind.”
But no, not exactly: In January 2010 the feds indicted 19 for their role in a “massive cybercrime conspiracy,” Simpson among them. The government said he and his cohorts, including Michael Faulkner of Southlake and Nathan Todd Shafer of Irving, were guilty of creating shell companies and phony identities to defraud the likes of AT&T, Verizon, Wells Fargo, XO Communications, Waymark Communications and others out of millions of dollars.
Michael Faulkner and his wife Chasity fled to Mexico in 2009 to escape the charges; they even assumed false identities — and at one point, there was a report that Michael had been killed trying to re-enter the U.S. But he wasn’t so lucky: In January 2010 the couple was captured. Not long after, he — and 11 others, including his wife — pleaded guilty to the government’s charges, while two others were cleared of any wrongdoing at trial.
Last December, Simpson and Faulkner were finally convicted. Yet this story’s far from over: Two of the defendants remain at large, more than likely out of the country.
But today, the U.S. Attorney’s Office sent word: Chief U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater sentenced Shafer, Simpson and Michael Faulkner to what the government describes as “lengthy federal prison terms.” They’ve also been ordered to pay millions in restitution.
Per the release that follows in full, Simpson was given 40 years in federal prison and ordered to return $17.6 million … for starters. Shafer was sentenced to nine years and ordered to pay back — again, for starters — $3.3 million. And Michael Faulkner got 30 years in federal prison; he owes $18 million in restitution. Why such massive sentences? From the release:
At today’s sentencing hearing, Judge Fitzwater noted that Simpson had “used his intelligence and talents to engage in deleterious criminal conduct,” and added that Simpson “never accepted responsibility for his actions or expressed remorse.” In addition, the Court stated it believed that Simpson was still a threat and would continue his criminal activity, having no respect for the law.
