A federal grand jury has indicted David Joseph Rezendes, a 27-year-old California resident, on allegations that he launched a denial-of-service attack on Larimer County government computers in 2010, U.S. Attorney John Walsh and the FBI announced Monday.
Rezendes, a former resident of Fort Collins, was arrested Aug. 23 in Sonora, Texas, on a traffic stop. Officials are seeking to have him detained and returned to Colorado to face the charges against him.
A denial-of-service attack is one that overwhelms a targeted computer system or network with communications traffic, leaving it unavailable to its users.
From Sept. 22 to Sept. 24, 2010, Rezendes conducted a retaliatory attack on Larimer County’s system, authorities allege, preventing employees from accessing their e-mails and the Internet.
Rezendes allegedly was seeking revenge for a charge against him of driving under the influence.
He is accused of damaging a protected computer, possessing unauthorized credit card information, aggravated identity theft and producing a false identification document.
If convicted, Rezendes faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for damaging a computer. He also faces up to 15 years imprisonment and up to a $250,000 fine for possessing and using equipment to produce a false-identification document.
