Arion Kurtaj, the hacker responsible for the massive Grand Theft Auto 6 leak last year, has been sentenced to an indefinite hospital stay, with the potential to stay for life unless doctors deem him no longer a danger.
Kurtaj, a member of the criminal gang Lapsus$, is severely autistic, and doctors deemed him unfit to stand trial. During his time in custody, he displayed erratic and destructive behavior, resulting in property damage and injury.
A mental health assessment deemed that Kurtaj "continued to express the intent to return to cyber-crime as soon as possible." According to the BBC, a jury was tasked with deciding whether Kurtaj committed the hack, but not if he did so with criminal intent.
At the time of the GTA 6 hack, Kurtaj was out on bail for hacking Nvidia and BT/EE with his laptop confiscated.
He was able to pull off the hack in a police-protected hotel using an Amazon Firestick, his hotel TV and a cellphone, which was a point of amusement for some reading the story.
Online, several commenters and some news outlets have reported that Kurtaj has been sentenced to "life in a hospital," though that is technically inaccurate, as he is sentenced to an indefinite hospital stay.
According to mind.org, this means he is sentenced to six months in a hospital, at which time he will be evaluated by his doctors. Doctors can renew his sentence for another six months at this time if they deem him a threat to return to a life of crime. After the first year, this process can be repeated yearly and indefinitely.
Though Rockstar pursued charges based on the idea the leaks would hurt interest in the game, this wasn't the case, as Grand Theft Auto 6's highly anticipated trailer is now the most viewed video game trailer in history.