A United States District Judge in Florida has handed down a 220-year prison sentence to Samuel Arthur Thompson, a former employee of the Jacksonville Jaguars and a convicted sex offender.
Thompson, aged 53, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian J. Davis for his involvement in producing, receiving, and possessing child sexual abuse material, as well as for hacking into the Jacksonville Jaguars’ stadium jumbotron.
His hacking of the jumbotron occurred after the Jaguars chose not to renew his employment contract upon discovering his status as a registered sex offender. The Middle District of Florida confirmed the sentencing through a release.
Thompson was convicted of these charges in November 2023, along with violating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) and illegally possessing a firearm as a felon.
This isn’t Thompson’s first offense; he was previously convicted of assaulting a 14-year-old boy in Alabama in 1998, resulting in his requirement to register as a sex offender.
Prosecutors revealed that Thompson was hired by the Jaguars in 2013 to assist with the design, installation, and operation of the stadium’s big screen. The Jaguars expressed gratitude towards prosecutors following Thompson’s conviction in November.
Regarding Thompson’s association with the Jaguars, it was disclosed that his contract obligated him to disclose his conviction, which he failed to do. Upon learning of his conviction and status as a registered sex offender in January 2018, the Jaguars decided not to renew his contract, which was due to expire in March 2018.
Prior to the expiration of his contract, Thompson installed remote access software on a spare server in the Jaguars’ server room. Using this software, he remotely accessed computers controlling the jumbotron during three NFL games in the 2018 season, causing repeated malfunctions of the video boards.
