The hacker who stole Ed Sheeran’s music has been jailed for 18 months.
Adrian Kwiatkowski was given the sentence after confessing to 19 charges - including copyright infringement and possessing criminal property - related to the theft of files from the ‘Shape of You’ hitmaker, 31, and the rapper Lil Uzi Vert, 27, and selling them on for cryptocurrency.
Chief crown prosecutor Joanne Jakymec remarked the 23-year-old convicted criminal had “complete disregard” for musicians’ creative output.
She continued: "He selfishly stole their music to make money for himself by selling it on the dark web," she said.
"We will be pursuing ill-gotten gains from these proceeds of crime."
According to the City of London Police, the defendant pocketed £131,000 from the music.
Ipswich Crown Court heard how when Adrian’s laptop was searched by authorities more than 565 audio files were unearthed.
In August, Adrian pleaded guilty to charges at Ipswich Magistrates Court and admitted to receiving bitcoin for the files.
Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt said: "Not only did he cause several artists and their production companies significant financial harm, he deprived them of the ability to release their own work.”
The legal action in the UK comes after US law enforcement began an investigation in 2019 after they were tipped off by various musicians who told the New York District Attorney that an online figure - known as Spirdark - had hacked a number of accounts and was passing on the files for money.
After digging into the reports, it was uncovered that the email address tied to Spirdark belonged to Adrian. In addition, they showed his address was in the UK and was linked to an IP address used in the theft.
Alvin Bragg Jr, the Manhattan District Attorney says the case highlighted that “cybercrime knows no borders”.
He added: "This individual executed a complex scheme to steal unreleased music in order to line his own pockets.”
