Karim Baratov, a Canadian man implicated in the hack of hundreds of millions of Yahoo accounts, waived his right to an extradition hearing Friday and will surrender to U.S. authorities to face federal charges.
“We’re anxious to get him down there,” Mr. Baratov’s attorney, Amadeo DiCarlo, said prior to his court appearance in Hamilton, Ontario.
“The court order is already in place to have the marshals come up to pick up Karim,” Mr. DiCarlo told CBC.
Justice Andrew Goodman ordered Mr. Baratov transferred to U.S. custody at the close of Friday’s proceedings and wished him “good luck,” CBC reported.
“Thank you,” Mr. Baratov replied.
Mr. Baratov, 22, has been in the custody of Canadian authorities since March when he was arrested under the Extradition Act and charged in connection with a colossal Yahoo breach that compromised roughly a half-billion user accounts.
According to the U.S. Justice Department, Russian intelligence agents supplied Mr. Baratov with the cache of previously stolen credentials and hired him to use that data to hack into the accounts of various targets, including journalists, politicians and private sector employees.
When “a target of interest had accounts at webmail providers other than Yahoo, including through information obtained as part of the Yahoo intrusion, they tasked their co-conspirator, Mr. Baratov, a resident of Canada, with obtaining unauthorized access to more than 80 accounts in exchange for commissions,” the Justice Department alleged.
Mr. Baratov faces 10 counts ranging from computer hacking and wire fraud to economic espionage, but his attorney said earlier this month that he planned to meet with American lawyers to discuss the possibility of pleading to lesser charges.
The Justice Department did not immediately return a request for comment Friday concerning Mr. Baratov’s case.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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