Illinois man sentenced to six years for hacking hundreds of Snapchat accounts

Kyle Svara, a 26‑year‑old from Illinois, was sentenced to 76 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to hacking more than 750 women’s Snapchat accounts. Between May 2020 and February 2021 he used social‑engineering tactics to obtain access codes, stole nude and semi‑nude photos from roughly 517 accounts, and distributed the images, including about 530 pictures and 600 videos that qualified as child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Svara also advertised his services online, offering to breach accounts for payment, and he was linked to a former Northeastern University coach who hired him for similar attacks.

The sentencing follows a Justice Department investigation that uncovered Svara’s false statements to investigators about his knowledge of hacking and CSAM. The case highlights ongoing challenges in combatting cyber‑fraud, sextortion, and the illicit trade of explicit content on social platforms.