WORCESTER ― A federal judge Oct. 14 handed down a sentence of a total of four years in prison to Matthew D. Lane, the former Assumption University student who hacked into the computer networks of two U.S.-based companies, one of which included a database of the personal information of schoolchildren and teachers that he held for ransom.
Lane, a 20-year-old from Sterling, was also ordered to pay more than $14 million in restitution and to serve 36 months of supervised release after his prison sentence.
Reading from a letter, he expressed remorse for his actions before the sentencing.
“I genuinely do not recognize the person I was,” Lane said. “I’m fully disgusted with myself.
“I deserve to be punished.”
Inside an emotional federal courtroom, where at least two rows of seats were filled with Lane’s tearful family members and friends, Judge Margaret R. Guzman called him “vulnerable to falling through the rabbithole” of the latest technological advancements, equating the misuse of the internet to a gun.
“You’re not the first one exhibiting bravado behind the screen of a computer and won’t be the last,” Guzman said. “You thought it was more fiction than it was real.
“We could blame society, your parents, the cutting-edge technology, but you hit the strokes, you said the words, you did the deeds.”
Between April and May 2024, Lane extorted $200,000 from a telecommunications company by threatening to publish customer data that he had previously stolen from the company’s computer network.
In December 2024, Lane demanded from California-based PowerSchool a ransom of about 30 bitcoins, or $2.85 million, while threatening a “worldwide” leak of personal information of more than 60 million students and 10 million teachers including names, email addresses, phone numbers and Social Security numbers, among other information.
PowerSchool stored software and cloud data that served school systems in the United States, Canada and elsewhere. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Lane transferred students’ and teachers’ personal information from the company’s networks to a computer server he leased in Ukraine.
The damages to the companies have been estimated at more than $14 million.
After pleading guilty to charges in June, Lane faced between 94 to 111 months in prison, in addition to restitution payments.
As those present waited for the judge to enter the courtroom, Lane frequently turned around from the counsel table, looking through his glasses as the room slowly filled with onlookers including his family and several friends.
Dressed in a gray suit, he often ran his fingers through the sides of his mop-top hair, fluffing them onto the sides.
Lane said that since his pleading guilty, he has remained offline.
“I have led a sober life — not from drugs, but from the internet and social media,” he said.
“I take full responsibility for my actions,” Lane said to Guzman during his speech.
Defense attorney Sean Smith argued for Lane to be sentenced to a lighter term of three years in prison and three years’ probation, saying that his client is “very much cognizant of the seriousness of the case,” while also pointing to his lack of a prior criminal record.
“This is not to minimize the behavior, conduct and the damage to the victims,” Smith said. “Mr. Lane admitted fault almost from the get-go. He takes full responsibility.
“He is aware of the damage he caused to not only the victims, but also to his family. It’s heartbreaking that Mr. Lane has caused them.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen A. Kearney asked for 84 months in prison and 60 months of probation in addition to a two-year supervised release and $14 million in restitution payments.
Kearney made reference to Lane’s text messages in relation to the case when making her arguments, saying that “he did not make a teenage mistake,” but rather, “a calculated attack.
“The ultimate victims were mothers and fathers, all of whom were hurt,” Kearney said. “Mr. Lane put at risk the security of 60 million children and teachers.
“For what? Greed. He wanted designer clothes and jewelry. Wanted to throw parties and fuel a habit of marijuanna.
“He was polite and respectful at home, but behind a computer he used slurs, antisemitic language and threatened sexual violence.”
Before giving her decision, Guzman said she took into account victim statements and also described Lane as “bright, well-raised, well-educated.”
She added that she had decided on the sentence to assure that his actions “were something you will not repeat.”
Guzman ordered Lane to serve three 24-month sentences concurrently on three of the four charges against him, followed by 24 months for a fourth charge of aggravated identity theft, as well as 36 months of supervised release and a $14 million order of restitution payments.
Guzman added that during his supervised release, Lane would have to use the internet under monitoring programs, and for academic and employment use only.
He was released following sentencing and is due to report in six weeks at a probation office to serve the sentence.
