If someone was sentenced to four years incarceration for computer hacking crimes would he go to jail or?

Question

prison or penitentiary? This hypothetical person stole some intellectual property from a private corporation in another state within the US. Does his working across state lines make it a federal offense?.

My understanding is that jails are operated by cities and counties, prisons are state operated and penitentiaries are federal facilities. Is that incorrect or over simplified?

Answer 1

Let me start with the 2nd part of your question first. The terms “Prison” and “Penitentiary” are virtually interchangeable. The term Prison is more of a general term for people to use. Penitentiary has the same basic meaning, but refers more to a specific prison.

Jails, on the other hand, are generally for shorter term offences. A general rule of thumb is if a sentence is for less than one year the person will go to jail. If the sentence is for more than a year, they go to a prison. There are always exceptions to the general rule based on bed space and local practices. I know of criminals who have spent well over a year in a jail. Likewise, I have seen criminals who have had less than one year sentences who served their time in prisons.

I’m reluctant to say all jails are city or county facilities because I’m sure someone will point out an exception (as well they should), but I personally know of no jail run by a state. There are jails and prisons that are privately run by corporations. However, they do so under the authority of a particular jurisdiction.

As mentioned above, there are issues with bed space. In many cases, one jurisdiction will pay another to handle their overcrowding problems. For example, a federal prison with an overcrowding problem may pay a state prison to take care of 30 or 40 of their inmates for a period of time until bed space comes available. I’ve also seen this happen where state prisons will pay county jails to handle incarceration of some of their inmates for a fee.

Now, as for your original question, your hypothetical person would be dealing with a federal offence if three conditions apply. 1st if the federal government has a law identifying his actions as a crime. 2nd if the prosecutor files the charges as a federal crime. 3rd if the crime took place across state lines. You’ve already confirmed the 3rd condition. I can assure you the 1st condition exists. The 2nd condition would be the determining factor in this case.

Regardless of whether it was done on a state level or federal, a sentence of 4 years incarceration will almost definitely qualify the person for time in a prison (penitentiary). If the lawyer is worth his weight in ambulance chasing business cards, he would try hard to get the sentence commuted to time served and probation or time served with a little more time in jail then probation.

Answer 2

I guess the trouble is that a penitentiary is a prison,

As to what level of prison they go to, who arrested them, what court tried them, Federal or state.

And most likely they would get a lower level security to start with anyway

Answer 3

Why Prison or penitentiary? Not for me! To much security on line and no more hackers attack! Ok?

Answer 4

Sounds like federal time in the big house.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

1st offense,probation for sure!!