PORTLAND, Ore. — A woman who breached the city of Portland's computer network and stole $1.5 million was sentenced Monday to five years of supervised probation and ordered to pay restitution.
Chantail Williams, 40, was arrested in Florida in April for hacking into the city of Portland's computers and taking funds intended to go to Central City Concern for the construction of affordable housing.
On Monday, Williams pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated theft. Investigators believe she was not the sole person behind the theft and that it was carried out by "malicious actors" located overseas. A condition of William's probation is that she will cooperate with Portland's ongoing investigation.
Police began investigating an "unauthorized intrusion" to the city's computer network on May 26, 2022. According to detectives, Williams posed as an employee of Central City Concern to fraudulently access the email account of an employee of the Portland Housing Bureau on April 25, 2022. She then used that access to misdirect $1.5 million to an account in Florida that belonged to her.
In her extradition to Oregon, Williams served over 30 days in jail and no additional jail time is imposed by her sentence, prosecutors said.
