Ex-Twitter worker sentenced to 3½ years for spying for Saudi Arabia

Ahmad Abouammo in 2019.
REUTERS

A former Twitter supervisor convicted of spying for Saudi Arabia by sharing person information a number of years in the past and doubtlessly exposing customers to persecution was sentenced to 3½ years in jail on Wednesday, US prosecutors stated.

Ahmad Abouammo had been discovered responsible by a jury in August following a trial in federal courtroom in San Francisco.

Prosecutors had sought a jail time period of simply over seven years, saying they needed a “sentence robust sufficient to discourage others within the know-how and social media trade from promoting out the information of weak customers.” Abouammo confronted a most penalty of many years in jail.

Abouammo’s attorneys had requested US District Choose Edward Chen for a probationary sentence at his residence in Seattle with no jail time. They cited Abouammo’s ongoing well being issues, lack of different convictions and household points that had affected him throughout his time at Twitter, which spanned 2013 to 2015.

The case targeted on Abouammo’s efforts to search for data on two Twitter customers, a $42,000 watch he acquired from a Saudi official and a pair of $100,000 wire transfers.

The case targeted on Abouammo’s efforts to search for data on two Twitter customers, a $42,000 watch he acquired from a Saudi official and a pair of $100,000 wire transfers.

AP

Prosecutors stated Abouammo, who oversaw Twitter’s relationships with journalists and celebrities within the Center East and North Africa, conveyed delicate data from the corporate’s techniques to assist Saudi officers determine and find Twitter customers of curiosity, doubtlessly exposing them to persecution.

Federal public defenders representing Abouammo didn't instantly reply to requests for remark. Twitter, not too long ago acquired by Elon Musk, and the Saudi Embassy in Washington additionally didn't instantly reply to requests for remark.

Of their sentencing request, attorneys for Abouammo stated that whereas at Twitter, his household had been “struggling to pay for and cope with severe upheavals in his sister’s life,” together with specialised medical look after her new child daughter.

The attorneys additionally stated Abouammo’s actions paled compared to these of Ali Alzabarah, one other ex-Twitter worker, who was accused of accessing hundreds of Twitter accounts on behalf of Saudi Arabia. Alzabarah left america earlier than being charged.