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OfficeMax hacker gets 20 years

A Miami computer hacker was sentenced to 20 years in prison for leading the largest U.S. identity-theft ring, stealing 130 million credit- and debit-card records from Naperville-based OfficeMax, Heartland Payment Systems Inc. and other companies.

Albert Gonzalez, 28, was sentenced in federal court in Boston for pleading guilty to thefts from Heartland, 7-Eleven Inc., Delhaize Group's Hannaford Brothers Co. and two unidentified national retailers. Prosecutors, who filed the case in New Jersey and transferred it to Boston, said the crimes caused hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.

Another judge sentenced Gonzalez yesterday to 20 years for the theft of 40 million credit- and debit-card records from retailers including TJX Cos., OfficeMax Inc. and BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. The sentence for those crimes, filed in New York and Boston, will run at the same time as the term imposed today.

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