French Cop sentenced to 7 years for selling information on the dark web

A French law enforcement officer who was fired has been sentenced to prison for selling confidential information on the darkweb.

The officer Christophe Boutry, was a former police sergeant and agent of the French counterintelligence agency called the Directorate General of Internal Security (DGSI). He was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to selling information from french law enforcement databases on darkweb markets. Boutry sold the information on the darkweb using the username “Haurus.”

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The dark web account Haurus came to the attention of French law enforcement during a cybercrime investigation in June 2018. French prosecutors revealed that Boutry conducted searches on law enforcement databases for clients from a darkweb forum. His clients gave him Bitcoin in exchange for the information he queried.

Using the username Haurus, the defendant sold information about people listed in law enforcement databases. He sold them for between 100 and 300 euros. He sold through an unidentified dark web forum before merting a fraudster who helped him set up a semi-automated storefront where he sold the same information he stole.

During the course of a cybercrime investigation, Boutry was linked to Haurus and he was arrested at the offices of the DGSI in September 2018.

The trial took place on June 2021 at the Nanterre Criminal Court. During the four-day trial, Boutry told the court that he was in debt so he started selling confidential information he extracted from police files through the dark web. He also said that he sold identities, addresses, telephone geolocations and fake documents.

French Police arrest Boutry
French Police arrest Boutry

Boutry also told the court that he had changed his ways and was no longer involved in crime. On July 22, 2021 Boutry appeared before the criminal court of Nanterre for his sentencing hearing. He was found guilty of all charges. The prosecution demanded a sentence of seven years in prison. The presiding judge, sentenced Boutry to five years in prison, plus tow years suspended sentence.

Two defendants were also sentenced alongside Boutry as part of the same case. One of the defendants was convicted of working as Boutry’s accomplice, he was sentenced to three years in prison, two of which were suspended.

The other defendant, Christophe Nadotti, was accused of being Boutry’s client. Nadotti was sentenced to three years in prison.

A case where Boutry sold information about people who were later murdered is being investigated by French law enforcement. According to the prosecutors, Nadotti purchased information on individuals who were involved in organized crime and his purchases resulted in a number of murders. His searches included:

[W]ell-known names of heads of drug networks involved in the bloody drug wars. The orders were clearly worded. For example: “Details about his visits to certain locations plus everything possible, number, where he sleeps.”