GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The man charged with stealing dozens of mPerks customer logins and selling them, Nicholas Mui, could spend up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of criminal enterprise.
In court on Monday, Mui showed very little expression when he pled guilty. But when speaking to 13 ON YOUR SIDE, his lawyer said he is nervous for his future.
"I mean, he's 22 years old. He's an introverted kid. He's very shy, very soft spoken. He's a he's a really, really nice kid. And to be looking at 20 years in prison when he's never been to jail before is, yeah, it's pretty scary,” said Any LaPres.
Prosecutors say last year Mui used customer logins credentials obtained from a data breach on the dark web to access mPerks accounts. He then sold them for others to use.
While seven victims were mentioned in the court case, prosecutor Eric Sterbis said there could be more.
“We believe it was in the hundreds, possibly even 1000s. The actual numbers of those affected is still something that probably needs to be pinpointed further through the investigation,” said Sterbis.
LaPres said Mui has been cooperative with the investigation from the start.
“He wanted to get his case over with, and the offer was the top charge, in exchange for that, they would dismiss the others. I think that would positively affect the criminal sentencing guidelines for him. So, he was willing to take that plea, and he did that today,” said LaPres.
His cooperation could continue. As part of his guilty plea he could provide information on how he committed this crime to help officials on similar cases.
“It is unusual to get somebody with the knowledge of the defendant and have him be charged and now convicted. We want to obtain as much information from Mr. Mui as possible to ensure that we're comfortable with knowing exactly everything he did and how he did,” said Sterbis.
Mui is scheduled to be sentenced in September.