Woman sentenced to 57 months in prison in Paris Hilton hacking case
05/08/2018 9:11 am PDT
By Kristina Bravo and Courtney Friel, KTLA
LOS ANGELES -- (KTLA) -- A woman on Monday was sentenced to 57 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution in a fraud case involving Paris Hilton.
Paytsar Bkhchadzhyan, 31, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in December, court records showed.
The criminal complaint against Bkhchadzhyan said she hacked into the email account of a celebrity who lived in Los Angeles.
The complaint said investigators obtained evidence from digital devices in a Glendale home linked to Bkhchadzhyan, which included nude images of the victim, the victim's bank account information, and emails and texts to the victim's assistant and family in which Bkhchadzhyan impersonated the victim.
According to an April 2016 article from the Los Angeles Times, Bkhchadzhyan—who had multiple criminal convictions—had her fingerprint taken by the FBI so an agent who specialized in cyber crimes could unlock a phone. She was just sentenced in an identity theft case in Van Nuys, the L.A. Times reported, and authorities only said that the warrant for her print was part of an ongoing investigation.
Bkhchadzhyan resumed fraudulent activities upon her release in 2017, the complaint against her said.
On Monday, Hilton appeared to be the victim in that case.
Bkhchadzhyan's attorney, Alex Kesel, said his client admitted to committing fraud against the TV personality.
Hilton, who provided a statement at the sentencing in downtown L.A., said Bkhchadzhyan charged some $40,000 on her credit cards.
“I've been hacked several times and I'm sick and tired of brushing it off...If people are going to try to hack me they will suffer the consequences. Today, I feel that justice was served, " Hilton told KTLA.
FULL STORY: Woman sentenced to 57 months in prison in Paris Hilton hacking case - KTLA