(NewsWorthy.news) – A former employee for a National Football League (NFL) team has been sentenced to more than 200 years in jail for charges related to child abuse and hacking into team technology.
Samuel Thompson worked for the Jacksonville Jaguars for more than four years, from 2013 until 2018. His role as a contractor was to assist with the construction and installation of the team’s upgraded video board system. Later, he also served as the Jumbotron operator for team games.
But Thompson’s contract was not renewed following the revelation in 2018 that he had been convicted in 1998 of assaulting a minor in Alabama. The former NFL employee is originally from St. Augustine, Florida. Prior to his departure from the team, Thompson installed software on a server that he could access via remote control so that, even after he was no longer employed by the Jaguars, he interfered with the technology from a distance during three games, leading to the Jumbotron malfunctioning.
The spare server on which Thompson had installed the software was later uncovered and removed by Jaguars staff. Investigators then tracked the remote-control features to Thompson’s home, where they found the technology he had used to hack into the team’s system.
In 2019, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) uncovered multiple pieces of technology that had been used in the hacking and distance control of the jumbotron at Thompson’s house, including two laptops, one tablet, and one phone. A firearm was also found, which the man possessed illegally since he was already a convicted felon.
According to a March 26 press release from the Middle District of Florida’s District Attorney’s office, Thompson was convicted of charges on November 17, 2023, which included creating, accepting, and possessing child abuse material (CSAM), violating regulations endowed on him as a registered offender, interfering with a protected computer, and holding a firearm as a convicted felon.
Federal Judge Brian Davis later sentenced the 53-year-old to 220 years in federal prison prior to a lifetime of supervised release.
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