An Albany, NY Man Really Thought a Judge Would Believe This Trick?

A man from Albany, New York, was already in hot water, before he decided to double-down.

What do I mean by that? Well, the story revolves around Michael Fish, an Albany, NY resident, who was arrested and plead guilty to hacking-related charges in May of 2020. As his sentencing approached, however, Fish had an idea.

He decided to write fake letters to the presiding judge, saying positive things about his character, in order to lessen the sentence that he would receive. Believe it or not, that plan backfired in a major way.

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Albany, NY Man Admits to Faking Character Letters to Judge

As reported by a story in The Times Union on Monday, Michael Fish admitted to fabricating or doctoring character letters that were meant to decrease the sentence that he was facing for his original crime.

Between 2016 and 2019, Fish reportedly hacked into a number of Internet accounts belonging to females at SUNY Plattsburgh, where he went to college. He stole photos of these women (both revealing and not), and sold them online, while also reportedly revealing the names of those who purchased them.

As previously mentioned, Fish was arrested in 2020, and plead guilty to the original crimes. As his sentencing was approaching, the reality began to set in that he would be facing a hefty prison sentence. After all, he had admitted to crimes of computer hacking, identity theft and possessing child pornography. Those will usually get you sent away for quite some time.

So, he tried to help his case.

Fish began to send letters to U.S. District Judge Mae D’Agostino, who was responsible for his upcoming sentencing. He didn't just stop at one letter, either. He reached deep into his Rolodex to find credible sources that could "speak on his behalf" about his character.

At one point or another, The Times Union writes that he sent letters pretending to be his mother, his priest and EVEN an aide to U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik.

In these letters, Fish would write about the "positive experiences" that all of these individuals had had with him. They "wrote" that he wasn't a bad person, but rather had made his fair share of mistakes, and did not deserve to be punished as a result.

Eventually, however, the plan began to fall apart. Those who work with Stefanik claimed that the letter sent on their behalf was fraudulent, and Fish later admitted to falsifying the letters himself. He now faces an additional 24 to 30 additional months in prison, on top of the 9 1/4 years that he was given for his original transgressions.

You truly cannot make any of this up. Just ask Michael Fish.