Eric Council Jr. from Alabama received a 14-month federal prison sentence for hacking the official SEC X account. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson also ordered him to forfeit $50,000 and serve three years of supervised release.
The sentence follows his guilty plea on February 10, 2025, to conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft in a digital fraud case. On January 9, 2024, Council and his co-conspirators effected the takeovers via SIM swap of the SEC’s X account.
They made a false post announcing that Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds had been approved. This false information led to the price of Bitcoin rising by more than $1,000 in minutes before dropping by more than $2,000 as the SEC confirmed the post was not sanctioned.
Council visited an AT&T store in Huntsville, Alabama, where he used a fake ID to impersonate the phone number’s owner. However, he obtained a new SIM card linked to the SEC account and bought an iPhone at a nearby Apple Store.
He put the SIM card in, got a password reset code for the SEC’s X account and snapped a photo of it to send to his business partners. He then sold his phone for cash.
SEC investigates council’s fake ID fraud
However, in June of 2024, police agents raided Council’s Athens, Alabama apartment and seized a fake ID card, an ID printer, and laptop. The laptop contained templates for fraudulent IDs and searches like “how long does it take to delete telegram account” and “what are signs the FBI is after you.”
Council, known online as “Ronin” and “Agiantschnauzer,” admitted he attempted additional SIM swaps for payment. The investigation was led by the FBI and the SEC Office of Inspector General. The Cyber and Fraud Units of the Justice Department also played a key role.
The prosecutors were Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Rosenberg and Trial Attorneys Ashley Pungello and Lauren Archer. Regulators said Council’s plot undermined investor confidence and the stability of the markets.
Nonetheless, this case demonstrated the dire implications of utilizing online identity theft and SIM swapping to manipulate public financial markets.
