RaleighDevil
Well-known member
Maybe, maybe not.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2016/01/a-note-on-the-hostage-deal.php
One of the seven Iranians the United States is sending back to the Islamic Republic of Iran is the convicted hacker Nima Golestaneh. He was convicted in December 2015 on a guilty plea to various charges of hacking in what must have represented some sort of plea bargain. I believe his formal sentencing had not been set yet. He would likely have been sentenced to a substantial term.
He hacked/stole software from a Vermont “aerospace/defense” company (the name of the company is one of several things that is difficult to find out from the prosecutors who pursued the charges against him). He was the subject of a massive manhunt a couple of years ago when he stole this software. The CIA, FBI, Interpol and the Turkish police all cooperated in setting up a sting operation in Turkey by offering to buy this software for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Golestaneh was captured in Turkey and held until last spring when he was finally extradited to the United States (one can only imagine what was involved there) after about a year-and-a-half or more. While being held by the Turks, he actually escaped and was recaptured at the Iranian border. Now wouldn’t you think that this would be somewhat of a coup for the administration and a great story, unless of course what he stole and how he did it would be of great embarrassment to the current administration?
