Wed, 03/23/2011 – 00:13 – PokerPages Staff

An online poker chip thief from the United Kingdom has been jailed for two years for money laundering and computer misuse.

29 year-old Ashley Mitchell hacked into Zynga Poker’s computer system and used the identity of two employees to steal 400 billion virtual chips in 2009.

Mitchell then attempted to sell the chips by creating numerous fake Facebook accounts.

He eventually managed to sell around a third of the chips for $85,000. That figure is significantly short of their estimated $12 million value.

Mitchell was finally exposed when the company realized large numbers of their gaming chips were vanishing and that the system had been hacked.

Mitchell admitted earlier this year that his addiction to online gambling, which had cost him over $1,500 a day, had been the reason behind his actions.

Judge Phillip Wassall concluded that Mitchell should be given a sentence which reflected the impact that the breaches in security would have on public confidence in security systems.

“The dishonesty in this case was substantial and protracted. Online security is a priority for everyone these days.”

“You deprived Zynga of income. It is quite clear you used a considerable degree of expertise and persistence to hack into the system.”

Mitchell was also handed an extra thirty week sentence for breaching a suspended sentence imposed in 2008 when he hacked into a local council’s computer system.