Case 5:19-cr-00159-EJD Document 27 Filed 06/22/20 Page 1 of 3 1 DAVID L. ANDERSON (CABN 149604) United States Attorney 2 HALLIE HOFFMAN (CABN 210020) 3 Chief, Criminal Division 4 DANIEL KALEBA (CABN 223789) Assistant United States Attorney 5 150 Almaden Boulevard, Suite 900 San Jose, California 95113 6 Telephone: (408) 535-5061 FAX: (408) 535-5066 7 daniel.kaleba@usdoj.gov 8 Attorneys for United States of America 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 SAN JOSE DIVISION 12 13 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, 14 15 v. 16 REYES DANIEL RUIZ, 17 Defendant. ) No. CR 19-00159 EJD ) ) UNITED STATES’ SENTENCING ) MEMORANDUM ) ) ) ) ) ) 18 19 Through his job as a Yahoo engineer, Mr. Reyes Daniel Ruiz violated the privacy of thousands 20 of persons by hacking into private electronic accounts, by rummaging through highly personal images 21 and financial information, and by stealing records to which he had no legal right. He abused his position 22 because the misappropriated data did not belong to him or his employer. It belonged to the account 23 holders who held a reasonable expectation of privacy in their personal records. Just like a bank, Mr. 24 Ruiz and Yahoo held the digital data in trust, with an obligation to safeguard and protect it from threats 25 inside the company and out. His breach was severe. He lost his job, pled guilty to a felony offense, and 26 now the United States asks this Court to sentence Mr. Ruiz to a period of incarceration. 27 28 SENTENCING MEMORANDUM CR 19-00159 EJD Case 5:19-cr-00159-EJD Document 27 Filed 06/22/20 Page 2 of 3 1 Through the plea agreement, Mr. Ruiz admitted to intentionally accessing without permission 2 thousands of private Yahoo accounts for the purpose of viewing and taking personal information, 3 including sexual images and videos of the account holders. He admitted to targeting the accounts 4 belonging to younger women. He admitted accessing the private accounts of friends and co-workers. 5 By his estimation, he downloaded approximately 2 terabytes of data, and possessed between 1,000 and 6 4,000 private images and videos. He also admitting using his unauthorized access to private Yahoo 7 accounts to hack into private iCloud, Hotmail, DropBox, Facebook, Gmail, and Photobucket accounts in 8 search of additional private sexual images and videos. The final tally of compromised accounts cannot 9 be determined because Mr. Ruiz destroyed all the evidence of his illegal conduct, including the hard 10 drive on which he stored the data, and the list of target accounts he maintained, before the FBI executed 11 a search warrant at his residence. 12 The government agrees with the Total Offense Level and Criminal History Category identified in 13 the Presentence Investigation Report. The obstruction of justice enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1 14 properly applies. Pre-investigative conduct can be the basis for the obstruction of justice enhancement, 15 like here, where the conduct was purposefully calculated and likely to thwart the investigation or 16 prosecution. United States v. Rising Sun. 522 F.3d 989, 996 (9th Cir. 2008). 17 Mr. Ruiz’s assistance to the FBI during the investigation is appropriately considered under the 18 acceptance of responsibility provision under U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1. Normally, the application of the 19 obstruction enhancement prevents a defendant from receiving any acceptance of responsibility credit. 20 See Application Note 4 to U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1. The government agrees that Mr. Ruiz should receive 21 acceptance of responsibility credit under § 3E1.1(a), and also moves for the third point under § 3E1.1(b). 22 PSR ¶¶ 30 and 31. In the view of the United States, the Guidelines should reflect both Mr. Ruiz’s 23 destruction of evidence before the investigation started, and also Mr. Ruiz’s assistance to the FBI after 24 the execution of the search warrant at his residence. 25 The United States respectfully recommends, as recognized by the Probation Officer, that a 26 sentence of incarceration should be imposed. The nature of these intrusions, the length of time he 27 carried on these violations, and the victims he targeted aggravate the offense conduct. The United States 28 SENTENCING MEMORANDUM CR 19-00159 EJD Case 5:19-cr-00159-EJD Document 27 Filed 06/22/20 Page 3 of 3 1 recognizes this is Mr. Ruiz’s first offense, that his personal, educational, and professional 2 accomplishments, prior to this serious misconduct, are impressive and a credit to him. He has the talents 3 and abilities to rebuild his career and lead a law-abiding life. He continues to have the support of family 4 and friends in the community. The United States also recognizes the country is in the middle of a 5 serious public health pandemic, and this Court may consider that factor in fashioning a sentence of 6 imprisonment not greater than necessary for Mr. Ruiz. 7 8 DATED: June 22, 2020 9 Respectfully submitted, DAVID L. ANDERSON United States Attorney 10 /s/ DANIEL KALEBA Assistant United States Attorney 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 SENTENCING MEMORANDUM CR 19-00159 EJD