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From:   Newsbytes (Barbara and John McMullen)
Subject: Arrest of Phiber Optik
Date: February 8, 1991

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***  CuD #3.05: File 3 of 8: Arrest of Phiber Optik              ***
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NEW YORK STATE POLICE ARREST "PHIBER OPTIK" 2/8/91
EAST FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1991 FEB 8(NB) --
CORRECTION: The February 7th Newsbytes piece on this story said that the
alleged illegal activity committed by 18 year-old Mark Abene, "Phiber
Optic" took place on JULY 9, 1990. The date of the alleged incident was
actually JANUARY 9th, 1990.

The corrected story follows:
Major Timothy Rabbett of the New York State Police has announced the arrest
of Mark Abene, 18, of Queens, NY for allegedly tampering with a New York
Telephone Computer Computer to provide free access for Abene and unnamed
others to have unbilled access to a "900" telephone.

The arrest,  which was made by New York State Police Officers and a member
of the United States Secret Service, came after a year's investigation by
those two agencies. Abene, who is also known by the computer handle "Phiber
Optik", is charged with felony counts of Computer Tampering, First Degree
and Computer Trespass and a misdemeanor charge of theft of services. New
York State Senior Investigator Donald Delaney told Newsbytes that each of
the felony charges carries maximum sentences of from 1 to 4 years in
prison.

The charges allege that Abene, on January 9th, 1990, obtained access to a
New York Telephone Company computer through the use of a stolen credit card
number and, having gained access, activated an unassigned telephone number.
According to the charges, he then arranged "call-forwarding" from the
unassigned number to a "900" number, a procedure that allegedly allowed
Abene and others to make free calls through the unassigned number to the
"900" number.

Search warrants relating to this investigation were executed on Abene and
two others, known as "Acid Phreak" and "Scorpion", on January 24th, 1990
and computer equipment, diskettes, notebooks and other materials were taken
into custody at that time. The arrest of Abene was said to have been the
result of the year-long study of these materials in conjunction with
materials received from various telephone companies.

Newsbytes has learned that the other subjects of the search warrants and
investigations will be charged under Federal statutes for allegations
relating to the investigation. Abene, had he been charged under federal
statues, would have been considered a minor at the time of the alleged
acts; under New York state regulation, he is classified as an adult and is
being charged as such.

While Abene, on the advice of attorney, was not available for comment, Mrs.
Gloria Abene, his mother, told Newsbytes that her son was "taken away with
handcuffs on". Delaney told Newsbytes that this is standard procedure
because "You cannot bring an un-handcuffed prisoner into a New York City
police precinct for booking." Abene was taken into custody at 10:10 AM on
February 5th and taken to the Queens County Detention Center where he was
held until 11:30 PM on the same evening when he was released under his own
recognizance.

Delaney commented on the arrest to Newsbytes, saying "I hope that by
arresting the people that have been committing these crimes and publicizing
their arrests, we reduce the occurrence of these activities.  There has
been a recent reduction in computer crime and I think that it is due, in
part, to the publicity that has surrounded similar arrests.

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19910207)

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