"Peter Yuryevich Levashov, aka ‘Petr Levashov’, ‘Peter Severa’, ‘Petr Severa’ and ‘Sergey Astakhov’, 38, of St. Petersburg, Russia, pleaded guilty today in US District Court in Hartford, Connecticut, to offenses stemming from his operation of the Kelihos botnet, which he used to facilitate malicious activities, including harvesting login credentials, distributing bulk spam e-mails and installing ransomware and other malicious software," the release said.
“Judge [Robert] Chatigny scheduled sentencing for Sept. 6, 2019. Levashov is detained pending sentencing,” the release said.
Levashov was detained by Spanish police in the city of Barcelona in April 2017 at the request of the United States, where he is suspected of hacking. On October 3, 2017 a Spanish court agreed to extradite Levashov to the United States. The verdict was appealed by Levashov's lawyers but the court's decision was confirmed.
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In early February, Spain extradited Levashov to the United States. Levashov pleaded not guilty to cybercrime charges at the first hearing in a Bridgeport court in the US state of Connecticut. The United States has improved the imprisonment conditions for Levashov after numerous requests by the Russian diplomatic mission, transferring him from the solitary confinement to the general population.
