A British resident who was extradited to the United States last month pleaded guilty in New York to his role in one of the largest social media breaches in history.

Over 130 accounts were compromised in the July 2020 Twitter attack, including those of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Joseph James O’Connor, 23, also known as PlugwalkJoe, pleaded guilty to hacking charges carrying a possible prison sentence of more than 70 years.

The attack was part of a much larger Bitcoin scheme.

O’Connor, who was extradited from Spain, hijacked a number of Twitter accounts and sent out tweets requesting followers to pay bitcoin to a specific account in exchange for a promise to double their money.

O’Connor was accused with the swindle along with three other individuals. Graham Ivan Clark, a 17-year-old from the United States, pleaded guilty in 2021. Nima Fazeli of Orlando, Florida, and Mason Sheppard of Bognor Regis, United Kingdom, have been charged with federal offences.

O’Connor’s acts were branded as “flagrant and malicious” by US Assistant Attorney-General Kenneth Polite Jr in a statement. claiming he “harassed, threatened, and extorted his victims, causing substantial emotional harm”