A judge in Saskatchewan has ruled that Ryan James Roach should be extradited to the United States for allegedly hacking into American university supercomputers to mine cryptocurrency. Following this decision, the Court of Appeal in the province has granted Roach temporary release pending a final determination by the federal justice minister.
Roach is facing charges of conspiring to commit unauthorized computer use, which carries a potential prison sentence of up to 10 years in Canada. The extradition order was issued by King’s Bench Justice Grant Currie after finding that the evidence presented against Roach meets the legal extradition criteria in Canada.
The judgment does not imply Roach’s guilt or innocence in the case. U.S. prosecutors allege that Roach collaborated with another Canadian individual to breach a New York state educational institution in 2017, resulting in the theft of over 1,900 login credentials and the installation of malware to mine Electroneum cryptocurrency using the institution’s supercomputer. The breach incurred approximately $337,000 in damages to the institution.
The FBI investigation linked the alleged hack to Roach through digital evidence such as IP addresses, server logs, email accounts, and hosting records. The court documents suggest that stolen credentials and malware were used to access university supercomputers remotely.
In his ruling, Currie mentioned the possibility that Roach might have been unaware of his co-conspirator’s plans. However, he noted that the relationship between Roach and his alleged partner, along with financial transactions and references to partnership, supported the inference of an agreement to hack into educational institutions and mine cryptocurrency without authorization.
Roach’s legal counsel, Patricia Farnese, stated that Roach would not appeal the extradition order as it does not meet the criteria for an appeal. Farnese has submitted arguments to the federal justice minister, who will make the final decision on Roach’s surrender within 90 days. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, with no comments provided by the U.S. Justice Department.