A Texas man has been sentenced in New Jersey to 71 months in prison for a stock fraud scheme involving computer hackers.

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Christopher Rad was convicted last November on six counts connected to the scheme.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Cedar Park resident and others manipulated the price of dozens of stocks in a "pump-and-dump" scheme that netted Rad nearly $3 million.

Spam promoting the stocks was allegedly sent from computers around the world that had been infected by viruses. Some of the computers were located in New Jersey.

Hackers allegedly gained access to the brokerage accounts of unsuspecting victims, liquidated the stocks in those accounts and used them to buy stocks they wanted to manipulate.

Two of Rad's coconspirators previously pleaded guilty and await sentencing.

 

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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