Cameron John Wagenius, 22, was sentenced Thursday to 70 months in prison and ordered to pay $294,978 in restitution after prosecutors said he participated in a hacking and extortion scheme that targeted at least 10 organizations.

Wagenius, who was most recently stationed in Texas, carried out the crimes while serving on active duty. Federal prosecutors said he and his co-conspirators sought at least $1 million through the scheme.

Between April 2023 and Dec. 18, 2024, Wagenius used online accounts associated with the nickname “kiberphant0m” to help obtain login credentials for computer networks belonging to targeted organizations.

The group used multiple methods to steal credentials, including a hacking tool known as SSH Brute that Wagenius helped develop. The conspirators shared stolen credentials and discussed methods for accessing company networks through Telegram group chats.

After obtaining data, the group demanded payments from victims through private communications and public posts, threatening to release the information on cybercrime forums if they were not paid. They also sold some of the stolen records and used compromised information in other fraudulent schemes, including SIM-swapping attacks.

In November 2024, Wagenius published two posts containing confidential call records belonging to a government official and relatives of another former official. The records contained details about the calls but not their contents.

Wagenius threatened to release additional records unless he received a ransom. Prosecutors said one of his posts indicated he was seeking retaliation following the arrest of another cybercriminal.

“His hacking schemes were not only aimed at getting rich, but he was also motivated by a desire to achieve status within criminal hacking communities,” said Charles Neil Floyd, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington.

Wagenius pleaded guilty in March 2025 to two counts of unlawfully transferring confidential phone records. He later pleaded guilty in July 2025 in a separate case to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, extortion in relation to computer fraud, and aggravated identity theft.