Former School District IT Employee Sentenced for Attacks on Saydel Schools
Summary
Ezekiel Dean Potter was sentenced to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty to computer fraud. Prosecutors said he used retained credentials to attack his former school district, deleting accounts and disrupting services; he must pay $59,668.81 in restitution.
Key points
- Potter pleaded guilty to computer fraud charges in January 2026 and was sentenced to 21 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
- Prosecutors said he retained credentials after leaving the Saydel Community School District and repeatedly targeted its systems.
- The attacks allegedly deleted the district’s Facebook page and accounts and data in Apple School Manager, disrupting classroom operations and device management.
- Prosecutors said Potter accessed Schoology through a Google administrator account and later deleted nine employee Gmail accounts.
- Court documents say investigators found spreadsheets of district account usernames and passwords on a USB drive Potter had asked a former coworker to wipe.
- Potter must pay $59,668.81 in restitution to the district and its insurer.
Article Details
- Victim Organization
- Saydel Community School District
- Incident Type
- Repeated unauthorized access using retained credentials, account deletion, and disruption of district services
- Affected Records
- Nine Gmail accounts were deleted. Additional Apple School Manager user accounts were deleted, but their number was not specified.
- Operational Impact
- The attacks disrupted classroom operations. District staff could not manage MacBooks and iPads through Apple School Manager for roughly a week, and Schoology access disruptions affected classes for approximately two hours.
- Claim Status
- confirmed
MITRE ATT&CK
Threat Actors
Vendors
Products
Apple School ManagerProsecutors said he kept using retained credentials after leaving the district, targeted services including Apple School Manager, Schoology, Gmail, and Facebook, and will now pay restitution and face supervised release.FacebookProsecutors said he kept using retained credentials after leaving the district, targeted services including Apple School Manager, Schoology, Gmail, and Facebook, and will now pay restitution and face supervised release.GmailProsecutors said he kept using retained credentials after leaving the district, targeted services including Apple School Manager, Schoology, Gmail, and Facebook, and will now pay restitution and face supervised release.SchoologyProsecutors said he kept using retained credentials after leaving the district, targeted services including Apple School Manager, Schoology, Gmail, and Facebook, and will now pay restitution and face supervised release.