An administrator of the now-defunct cyberforum Darkode has been sentenced to 18 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release.

Before it was dismantled in 2015, Darkode was the largest English-language hacker forum in the world that sold hacking tools, malware, zero-day exploits, stolen data, botnet and spam services to cybercriminals. The platform was shut down as a result of a major international law enforcement operation, with over 70 Darkode members and associates arrested worldwide. In July 2015, the US authorities charged 12 people associated with the marketplace.

According to court documents, Thomas Kennedy McCormick, aka “fubar,” was initially a member of Darkode but eventually became the forum’s administrator. He developed and sold data-stealing malware that collected personal and financial data.

McCormick was arrested in December 2018, during the searches at his home the police found the stolen credit card information of almost 30,000 people. As part of McCormick’s guilty plea, he admitted his involvement in causing about $679,000 in financial losses through these offenses.

The admin was charged with racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud charges, including conspiracy to commit bank, wire, and access device fraud, identity theft, hacking, and extortion. He was also charged with five counts of aggravated identity theft.

In March 2020, McCormick pled guilty to conspiracy to participate in a racketeering-influenced corrupt organization and aggravated identity theft. He was sentenced to 12 months for conspiracy to participate in a racketeering-influenced corrupt organization followed by 6 months for aggravated identity theft.