[ISN] Charges dropped against 'DDoS Mafia'

[InfoSec News]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/08/ddos_mafia_case/

By John Leyden
8th February 2005 

US prosecutors have dropped criminal complaints against four of five
men accused of offering a denial of service attack for hire. Paul
Ashley, the network administrator of CIT/FooNet, a web and IRC hosting
company, and three alleged accomplices, Jonathan David Hall, Joshua
James Schichtel, and Richard Roby were accused of organising attacks
against the websites of rivals of Massachusetts businessman Jay
Echouafni.

Last month, charges against the group were dismissed at the request of
prosecutors the O'Reilly Network reports. But an investigation remains
open and charges could still be brought. "This just allows us to talk
to defence attorneys and negotiate things before having to bring an
indictment against a particular individual," prosecution lawyer Arif
Alikhan told the O'Reilly Network.

Charges against a fifth suspect in the case, Lee Graham Walker, a
British man based in the UK, remain outstanding. Echouafni, former
head of Orbit Communication, an online satellite TV retailer, was
indicted separately last summer by a grand jury on five charges of
aiding and abetting computer intrusion and conspiracy. He fled bail to
become a fugitive from justice. His alleged role as a DDoS kingpin has
earned him a spot of the FBI's most wanted list.