In the era of high-stakes cybercrime, where one line of code can leave slot machines sweating and loyalty databases trembling, the headline that an Illinois teen — accused in the 2023 cyberattacks on MGM and Caesars when he was just 15 — has quietly re-entered the courtroom and the national conversation feels weirdly like a tech noir coming-of-age story.
Only twist: there’s nothing glamorous about alleged extortion, stolen Social Security numbers, or the damage left in these companies’ wake.
The teen, now 17, appeared in juvenile court Wednesday under a legal spotlight heavy with acronyms and consequences.
Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Summer Clarke painted a stark picture in prosecutors’ starkest tones: Caesars paid $15 million after extortion and threats; MGM allegedly took a harder hit, with prosecutor figures noting a $200 million loss (MGM disputes that and points to an SEC filing showing about $110 million).
Clarke also told the court that “more than 65,000 Social Security numbers” were stolen, and that the FBI has “still been unable to trace, track and find over $1.8 million of bitcoin currency.”
Those numbers read like a ledger of actual harm.
Clarke pressed the point about sophistication.
“The level of sophistication he possesses and the criminal acts he is capable of cannot be overlooked by this court,” she told the judge, arguing for continued custody and warning that the alleged conduct made the teen a danger to others.
“We don’t know what subject has access to, who he has access to, or how he has access to it,” she added — a prosecutor’s version of, “We don’t know how many more mousetraps are hidden in the attic.”
Clarke even characterized the alleged conduct as large-scale cyberterrorism accomplished “without stepping foot outside his home.”
Yet Judge Dee Butler, while acknowledging the allegations were “incredibly serious,” ordered the teen released from juvenile detention under strict conditions.
The judge noted the events date back two years and accepted the parents’ plan to host and supervise him in Nevada.
Limits were explicit: no Internet except for school, no Internet-capable smartphone, and mandatory supervision by either parent or grandmother — with a clear warning that any violation would land him back in custody.
That balance — between public safety and juvenile rehabilitation — is the theater Nevada’s juvenile system was designed for, defense attorneys argued.
Richard Schonfeld and David Chesnoff advocated for release; Schonfeld noted the teen “surrendered,” saying, “That is a clear indication he is not a risk of flight,” and called him a “poster child” for the juvenile justice framework legislators intended.
The court set the next hearing for Nov. 20, and prosecutors signaled they will seek to have the teen certified to face adult charges, citing the gravity of alleged harm comparable to violent offenses typically subject to certification.
Investigators say the intrusions occurred between August and October 2023 and were attributed to a loosely linked organized cyber group known by many names — Scattered Spider, Octo Tempest, UNC3944, and 0ktapus — and an affiliate known as AlphV (Alpha) at times took credit for the MGM hack.
Years of investigation and indictments have followed: four men in their early 20s were identified in November 2024, and search warrants hit the teen’s home in December 2023 and again in February 2025.
During the recent raid, Clarke said, agents found multiple laptops hidden in the teen’s house — including under a bathroom sink — detail enough to fuel any true-crime podcaster’s daydream.
This story sits at the intersection of teenage tech talent and modern risk.
It asks uncomfortable questions: when skill becomes weaponized, how do we hold someone accountable without losing sight of age and rehabilitation?
When does the juvenile system pivot into adult accountability?
For the casinos and the individuals whose identities were breached, the calculus is simple: damage and danger demand answers.
For a teen who allegedly pulled off one of the most consequential hacks linked to Las Vegas, the courtroom choreography is now focused on weighing childhood mistakes, alleged criminal mastery, and the safety of a community that watched its largest resort operators get rattled — all from a bedroom command center two states away.
Welcome to Fee-ifornia: How Las Vegas Turned “What’s the Damage?” Into an Art Form!
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