DETROIT — The former University of Michigan football offensive coordinator who is accused of hacking into college computer databases and stealing thousands of student athletes' intimate photographs and videos on Tuesday waived his right to a speedy trial.
During a brief hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Matt Weiss was scheduled for trial on Nov. 4 after waiving his right to be tried within 70 days of his indictment, per the Federal Speedy Trial Act.
Weiss, who was released last month on a $10,000 bond, is charged with 14 counts of unauthorized access to computers and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft. If convicted, he faces up to five years on each computer charge and two years on each identity theft charge.
During Tuesday's hearing, Weiss attorney Doug Mullkoff told U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds he anticipates there to be a flurry of motions filed in the case, and that he and Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Wyse had agreed to request pushing the docket back. Mullkoff said the government has turned over some discovery, but that there are more items he hasn't received.
People are also reading…
Edmunds asked Weiss whether he agreed to waive his right to a speedy trial, and he answered, "Yes, Your Honor."
Other than scheduling matters and the anticipation of motions being filed, the details of the case were not discussed during the hearing. Following the proceedings, Mullkoff and Wyse declined to comment.
According to a federal indictment, Weiss allegedly hacked into a database of student-athletes at more than 100 colleges and universities. The database was maintained by a third-party company. Federal authorities accused Weiss of downloading the personal information and medical data of more than 150,000 athletes. Weiss allegedly used the information to access the email, social media and cloud storage accounts of more than 3,000 athletes, downloading intimate photographs and videos.
As the criminal proceedings move forward, a lawsuit has been filed in the federal court's civil division by attorneys representing 42 plaintiffs. The defendants are the University of Michigan, its Board of Regents and Keffer Development Services, LCC, the school’s Pennsylvania-based data system vendor.
According to a motion filed Tuesday in a separate federal lawsuit, eight different suits have been filed against Weiss, the university, its regents and the data company. Tuesday's motion, filed on behalf of two Jane Doe plaintiffs, sought to consolidate the cases.
