Madonna’s computer hacker Adi Lederman has received a jail sentence for his crimes.
In December 2014, 13 of the pop star’s unfinished demos were unlawfully released onto the internet by Adi, who hacked into the email and cloud accounts of those close with the singer.
The Jerusalem Post reports he was sentenced to 14 months in jail by Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court for the offences on Thursday as part of a plea bargain deal he struck after his conviction for cybercrimes against Madonna. Adi was also fined 15,000 shekels, which is the equivalent of $3,960 in US currency.
In addition to cybercrimes, Adi is known for auditioning in 2012 for TV show Kochav Nolad, A Star is Born in English, which is the Israeli version of American Idol.
He was arrested in late January after government agents hunted him down.
Israeli TV's Channel 2 news previously reported a month-long probe into the crime was undertaken by Israel’s Lahav 433 cybercrime unit with the aid of a private investigation firm. Lahav 433 is an umbrella organisation within the Israel Police which is comparable to the FBI. Apparently authorities seized computers from the hacker’s home and found he stole unreleased music from several artists in order to peddle the songs online.
Madonna published six singles from her forthcoming LP Rebel Heart after the scandal took place. These half dozen songs climbed to the top of iTunes charts in nearly 40 countries, even though they were released several months before the tracks were originally scheduled to be debuted.
Around the time of the leaking, Madonna lamented over having her music stolen, posting on Instagram it was akin to “artistic rape” and “a form of terrorism”.
