A Saskatchewan King’s Bench judge has ruled in favor of extraditing Ryan James Roach to the United States, where he faces serious charges linked to his alleged hacking activities aimed at mining cryptocurrency from supercomputers maintained by American universities. Following this ruling, Roach was granted interim release by the province’s Court of Appeal, pending the federal justice minister’s final decision on the matter.
Roach is accused of conspiring to commit unauthorized computer use, a charge in Canada that could result in a maximum of ten years in prison. Justice Grant Currie determined that the evidence provided by U.S. authorities met the legal standard required for extradition, although this ruling does not imply a judgment on Roach’s guilt or innocence.
The allegations against Roach stem from a 2017 incident involving a New York state educational institution, where he’s believed to have conspired with a fellow Canadian, Mathiew James Stubbings. Court documents indicate that the two allegedly broke into the system, extracting over 1,900 login credentials, installing malware, and utilizing the institution’s supercomputer to mine a cryptocurrency known as Electroneum. This breach reportedly resulted in about $337,000 in damages incurred by the institution, factoring in the costs associated with shutting down systems, conducting forensic analysis, and rebuilding compromised infrastructures.
Investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) traced a digital trail purportedly linking the hack back to Roach, analyzing IP addresses, server logs, email accounts, and hosting records that contributed to the alleged unauthorized access of the university’s supercomputers.
Justice Currie acknowledged the defense argument suggesting that Roach may not have been aware of Stubbings’ plans for the attack. He stated that Roach’s research concerning high-performance computing occurred during the attack rather than beforehand. Despite this, the judge pointed to the nature of Roach’s relationship with Stubbings, including financial transactions for servers and references to Roach as a “partner” in criminal endeavors, as evidence of a conspiracy. Currie concluded that “a reasonable jury, properly instructed, could convict Mr. Roach of having conspired to commit unauthorized use of a computer.”
Roach’s lawyer, Patricia Farnese, indicated that her client would not appeal the committal order, reasoning that the decision does not warrant an appeal and wishing to avoid unnecessary delays. She has submitted documents to the federal justice minister, who holds the authority to make the final decision regarding Roach’s extradition. This minister has a 90-day window to make a decision, after which Roach would have another opportunity to appeal if necessary.
The U.S. case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, while the U.S. Justice Department has refrained from commenting on the ongoing legal proceedings.
