NFL team ousts registered sex offender, then he hacks Jumbotron in Florida, feds say

A registered sex offender who worked for the Jacksonville Jaguars football team lost his job for not disclosing his offender status — then he hacked the Jumbotron, federal officials said.

What investigators found when they searched his devices led to a sentence of 220 years in federal prison.

Samuel Arthur Thompson, 53, of St. Augustine was found guilty on charges related to possessing, receiving and producing child sex abuse material, violating registration and notification requirements as a sex offender, sending damaging commands to a protected computer, and possessing a firearm as a felon, officials said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Middle District of Florida announced his hefty sentence in a March 26 news release, following his conviction on various charges in November.

Thompson’s attorney told McClatchy News they plan to appeal his judgment and sentence.

Thompson was hired to work on the Jaguars’ Jumbotron in 2013, but he didn’t tell his employers he was convicted of a sex offense in 1998 in Alabama, officials said. Five years went by before his employers eventually learned of his status and decided not to renew his contract.

Before he stopped working for the Jaguars, Thompson is accused of installing software that would enable him to control the Jumbotron remotely.

Then he used that software to hack into the Jumbotron for three games in the 2018 season, causing the video to malfunction, photos show.

Investigators were able to trace the hack to Thompson’s home, and they seized his electronic devices when executing a search warrant in July 2019, officials said in a criminal complaint.

They reported finding child pornography and other disturbing content on his devices and learned he had molested at least two children, officials said.

“A review of Thompson’s iPad further revealed that he had been searching the dark web for (child sex abuse material) at the time the FBI knocked on his door with the search warrant,” officials said.

During the course of the investigation, Thompson fled to the Philippines, where he remained for six months until he was deported to the United States and arrested by the FBI, officials said.

Investigators added he sexually exploited another child while he was on the run.

In a sentencing memorandum following his conviction, Thompson argued he didn’t receive a fair trial.

“Again, I refused to live my life wearing the label sex offender,” he wrote in his memorandum. “To be clear, I maintained my registration requirements, but refused to allow that to define who I was. I have and will always hold my head high.”