Former contractor sent to federal prison for hacking employer’s network in retaliation for termination

HOUSTON - A 36-year-old Ohio man has been sentenced for computer fraud after causing more than $860,000 in losses, announced Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck.

Maxwell Schultz, Columbus, Ohio, pleaded guilty Nov. 18, 2025.

Senior U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal has now ordered him to serve 24 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court heard about the damage and sophistication of the attack and how Schultz used another employee's account to mask his intrusion which led to the investigation of that account initially. In handing down the sentence, Judge Rosenthal noted this is not the appropriate reaction to being fired. Schultz was also ordered to pay $862,516.74 in restitution.

On May 14, 2021, Schultz was terminated from his position as a contract employee in his company's information technology department. Shortly after, he accessed the company's network by impersonating another contractor to obtain login credentials.

He ran a PowerShell script that reset approximately 2,500 passwords, locking thousands of employees and contractors out of their computers nationwide. Schultz also searched for ways to delete logs, PowerShell window events and cleared multiple system logs.

The attack to the company's system caused more than $862,000 in losses, including employee downtime, customer-service disruptions and labor needed to restore the network.

As part of his plea, Schultz admitted to conducting the attack because he was upset about being fired.

He was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The FBI conducted the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rodolfo Ramirez and Michael Chu are prosecuting the case.