Nathan Wyatt, the 38 year-old U.K. resident known as “Crafty Cockney” on AlphaBay market, has lost his bid to convince the High Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling that he should be extradited to the U.S.
Today’s ruling means that Wyatt is one step closer to being extradited to stand trial in federal court in the Eastern District of Missouri on charges related to some of the earlier hacks and extortion attempts by thedarkoverlord (TDO). Wyatt was indicted on November 8, 2017 on 6 counts: a single conspiracy charge, two counts of aggravated identity theft, and three counts of threatening damage to a computer. DataBreaches.net has previously hypothesized the identities of the victim medical practices described in the indictment.
The High Court’s ruling, issued this morning, began with a recap of the sole issue before the court at this point:
- The Government of the United States seeks the extradition of the appellant on charges relating to computer hacking with associated demands for money and the dissemination on the internet of personal medical records. On 25 January 2019 District Judge Tempia sent the appellant’s case to the Secretary of State who subsequently ordered his extradition. The sole issue before the judge was whether the forum bar to extradition found in section 83A of the Extradition Act 2003 [“the 2003 Act”] should operate to prevent extradition on the basis that the interests of justice, as defined in that section, favoured prosecution in this jurisdiction.
- The judge examined each of the statutory factors that inform that question. She concluded that it was in the interests of justice for the appellant to be extradited for trial in the United States. This is his appeal against the decision to send the case to the Secretary of State.
Wyatt’s alleged crimes and the extradition case have been covered in previous posts on this site, but they are also explained in the background section of the court’s ruling. It is not clear from the U.S. Department of Justice’s filings whether the DOJ believes that Wyatt is the individual who was the spokesperson for thedarkoverlord (TDO) in 2016 and 2017, or if they believe he was the mastermind behind TDO, or if they believe he was just a member or associate. There were no other suspects named in the DOJ’s filings, although they noted that there were ongoing investigations into others.
Significantly, Wyatt was not charged with actually hacking any entity.
Was Wyatt really intimately involved in all of TDO’s early hacks and extortion attempts as DOJ alleges? That will be for a trial court to determine. In the immediate future, though, Wyatt and his solicitors have a decision to make. If I understand their processes in the U.K., Wyatt now has 14 days to apply to the High Court for permission to appeal to the U.K.’s Supreme Court. If the High Court refuses his application to appeal — or if he makes no application at all — then he will be extradited within 28 days of the end of the 14 day period.
But while Wyatt can apply for leave to appeal, my understanding is that at this point, Wyatt’s basis for any further appeal is extremely limited as he can only seek permission to appeal on a point of law.
DataBreaches.net reached out to the Department of Justice International Affairs office, Tuckers Solicitors (Wyatt’s solicitors), and Wyatt’s partner/fiancee for comments on today’s ruling, but received no immediate replies. This post may be updated if comments are received.
Update: A spokesperson for DOJ responded that as a matter of longstanding policy, DOJ generally does not comment on extradition-related matters until a defendant is in the United States.
The man is clearly guilty. The evidence stacks up against him. How much is all this costing the taxpayer. Quicker he gets extradited and faces justice the better. Good riddance
I know nathan wyatt personally for over 30 years..
Let me tell you this isnt an evil man. The story being told is not the correct one. He is devoted to his children & his family.
Yes he did something wrong he got caught, he said guilty and did his time for his crimes.
This america thing is someone elses crime and someone else’s time. All he has asked for all along is a fair trial, he isnt running from justice, he was trying to get justice,
He knows he will now go to america again he is not running. He will be threatened with a crazy sentence unless he take a plea deal, 7 years away from all he knows and cares about.. no decent defence and the threat of 15 years, his mum is elderly his kids are young.
You say good riddance, you dont know the facts…
From my years of talks with nathan I also believe the person who runs this site was also very close to nathan, I belive she knows Nathan’s real part & the stories I’ve read here about nathan are not entirely open & honest.
But this the only site reporting Anthing about him. So thank you for atleast bringing it to the public’s attention. He really isnt what everyone believes..
Be careful what you wish for. If I had reported everything I was told by Nathan, he would likely be facing a lot more criminal charges. And let’s be clear: at the very least, Nathan conspired with TDO when TDO was harming clinics and patients. So is it another person’s crime and another person’s time? No. It is his crime and his time, too. Should he get as much time as the other person(s)? Probably not, but then, I don’t think the DOJ and I have the same theory about Nathan’s role. And I obviously haven’t seen all the evidence they have.
What isnt reported is that during this period he was prescribed high doses of serotonin replacement meds when the correct diagnosis was later corrected after his release from prison
He was tested and found to be not just bi-polar but high functioning aspergers. To which he was correctly prescribed mood stabilizers.
The abitity to seperate truth & facts from fantasy, bravado & mania would of been a mental minefield for him.
Sorry if I was critical of yourself, I didnt set out be critical.
This is just so wrong in so many ways
I can’t report something I never even heard, and I never heard anything about any psych diagnoses or medications until your comment now. I didn’t see that mentioned at all in the judgment on his appeal. Was it raised by his solicitors in the appeal? In the U.S., such mental health issues or medical aspects generally don’t change anything in terms of being charged or being convicted, but it can mitigate sentencing.
I agree he should face justice. But this guy should not have to be ripped from his own country. It seems that he just wanted to face his judicial system rather than ours. We all know this guy stands no chance here. There gunna fry him.
I was a bit surprised that the UK agreed to extradite him. And I wondered if their decision would have been any different if they were shown indictments against him in other jurisdictions in the U.S. (if there are other indictments). Will he get over here and then a bunch of other indictments get unsealed? I wonder…
I do belive the treaty with the UK, in this instance when I read the available court discussions that Mr Wyatt has certain guarantees.
1. Can only be charged with the listed charges on the indictment.
2. A trial within 60 days of arrival.
3. No sentence over the stated guidelines.
Thanks for that. I didn’t know all of those guarantees.