Non-DOJ Individual Sentenced for Aiding and Abetting Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with a Government Computer

On August 6, 2021, a non-DOJ individual was sentenced to five years of probation for one count of aiding and abetting fraud and related activity in connection with computers.  Rachel Manna was sentenced in the Southern District of Iowa.  According to the factual statement in support of the guilty plea (“factual statement”), in or about the spring of 2018, Manna asked a contractor paralegal with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa to obtain non-public information about certain defendants in a criminal investigation and prosecution being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.  The factual statement further states that on or about May 16, 2018, the contractor paralegal utilized her government computer to access non-public information without authorization and took photographs of the information with her cell phone.  According to the factual statement, after photographing the information, the contractor paralegal shared the information with Manna, who subsequently shared the photographs with several individuals using Facebook Messenger.  Manna admitted that she was aware that the contractor paralegal was not authorized to access or share this information.  In addition, according to the factual statement, on or about October 7, 2018, and on or about October 25, 2018, two individuals allegedly posted the photographs on a social media platform group dedicated to exposing law enforcement cooperators.  The investigation was conducted by the OIG’s Chicago Field Office and the Cyber Investigations Office.