The infamous Romanian hacker Marcel Lazar, better known by his nickname "Guccifer" and best known for helping expose the existence of the private email domain Hillary Clinton used when she was U.S. secretary of state was sentenced on Thursday to 52 months in prison by a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. Lazar had pleaded guilty in May to charges including unauthorized access to a protected computer and aggravated identity theft after being extradited from Romania.

In an NBC interview in May, Guccifer claimed that he also gained access to the former Secretary of State's "completely unsecured" server. "It was like an open orchid on the Internet," Lazar told NBC News. "There were hundreds of folders." What is curious is that according to Reuters, law enforcement and national security officials said that claim is meritless. Of course, the question arises: just how diligently did national security officials probe Guccifer's claim: the reason to be skeptical is that if this allegation was confirmed, then the FBI's entire case against Clinton would collapse, as it would be proven that her server was indeed hacked, something the FBI said there was no evidence ever happened, and lead to renewed questioning about the impartiality of the FBI's probe.

In any case, Lazar is believed to have hacked into email accounts of about 100 victims between 2012 and 2014. They include prominent political figures such as former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a relative of former President George W. Bush and Sidney Blumenthal, a former Clinton White House aide and an unofficial adviser to Clinton. Clinton is now the Democratic nominee for president.

Lazar first leaked online memos Blumenthal sent Clinton that were addressed to her private email account, which was used during her time as secretary of state to conduct both personal and work business in lieu of a government account.

Guccifer is survived by a hacker calling himself "Guccifer 2.0" and also claiming to be a Romanian hacker, who emerged in June when he leaked documents from the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which led to the resignation of the DNC Chair, and revealed the collusion between democrats and various members of the media and press.

Of course, U.S. intelligence officials and cyber security experts believe Guccifer 2.0 is a front for Russian intelligence services intended to spread confusion about the hacks against the Democratic Party.





