---
title: Syrian Electronic Army hacker 'Th3Pr0' sentenced to 42 months in the US for Assad-regime hacking campaign | ctxsec
url: https://ctxsec.com/items/doj-syrian-electronic-army-agha-th3pr0-sentenced-42-months
description: "A federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia sentenced Ahmad Umar Agha (Th3Pr0) on Oct 29 to 42 months in prison for his central role in the Syrian Electronic Army hacking conspiracy run from Bashar al-Assad's inner circle between 2011 and 2014, which hit about 47 Western media outlets, businesses, NGOs and government entities."
status: "official (US Justice Department press release, Oct 29)"
published: 2026-11-01
---

> A federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia sentenced Ahmad Umar Agha (Th3Pr0) on Oct 29 to 42 months in prison for his central role in the Syrian Electronic Army hacking conspiracy run from Bashar al-Assad's inner circle between 2011 and 2014, which hit about 47 Western media outlets, businesses, NGOs and government entities.

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official (US Justice Department press release, Oct 29)

2026-11-01

### Syrian Electronic Army hacker 'Th3Pr0' sentenced to 42 months in the US for Assad-regime hacking campaign

The US Justice Department said a federal court in the **Eastern District of Virginia** sentenced **Ahmad Umar Agha** (also known as **Th3Pr0**) to **42 months** in prison on **Oct 29**. According to DOJ, the conspiracy was organized and led by members of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's inner circle, including the commander of Syria's General Intelligence Directorate, and ran from as early as Aug 24, 2011 to Jan 31, 2014.

- **Scope:** DOJ says Agha hacked about 47 Western media entities, businesses, NGOs and US and allied government entities to spread the regime's propaganda, intimidate opponents and collect intelligence.
- **Market impact:** one of the intrusions caused a flash crash that temporarily wiped about $136 billion off the value of Dow Jones stocks (the 2013 hijack of the Associated Press Twitter account, per The Record).
- **Military targeting:** the group also tried to get US service members to refuse orders.
- **Co-conspirator:** Firas Dardar, indicted with Agha in May 2018 after a 2014 complaint, remains a fugitive.

The FBI noted Agha had spent more than a decade as a fugitive before the sentence.

Sources: [US DOJ: Syrian Man Sentenced for Wide-Ranging Hacking Conspiracy Conducted on Behalf of the Bashar Al Assad Regime (Oct 29)](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/syrian-man-sentenced-wide-ranging-hacking-conspiracy-conducted-behalf-bashar-al-assad-regime) · [The Record: Syrian Electronic Army hacker gets prison time for attacks on Western targets (Oct 30)](https://therecord.media/syrian-electronic-army-hacker-sentenced-three-years)