British Man Faces Jail Term For Stealing 400 Billion Zynga Poker Chips

Ashley Mitchell, a 29 year old IT business man plead guilty yesterday to stealing 400 billion Zynga poker chips. Though these were virtual chips, they are worth real money, about $12 million. Mitchell was able to sell about a third of them for £53,000 ($86,000). He hacked into the developer's servers and stole the chips some time between June 30, 2009 and September 7, 2009.

"The defendant sold around one third of the 400 billion poker chips, and looking at the auction history where one can purchase such items, he was selling them for around £430 ($695) per billion," said prosecutor Gareth Evans, according to a report from local newspaper Herald Express.

Mitchell was previously convicted in 2008 for hacking into his former employer's website and changing his personal information to receive £3,498 ($5,600). At the time he was given a suspended sentence, but this time he will be spending some actual time behind bars.

[via Gamasutra]