A pair of habitual offenders behind one of the biggest data breaches in Santa Barbara County history pleaded guilty last week to multiple felony counts that will send them to prison for a combined 33 years.
San Diego residents Gordon Welterlen, 37, and Nicole Milan, 31, admitted to hacking a computer network belonging to the Wolf & Associates Property Management company and stealing the identities of more than 9,000 clients. They used the information to file over 300 unemployment claims with the state and as a result collected more than $2 million that they spent on cars, including a Mercedes and two Jaguars, swanky apartments, and drugs.
On March 19, Welterlen, who has a lengthy criminal history of fraud and theft and extensive illegal dealings on the “dark web,” will be sentenced to 18 years in prison. Milan, also with a long rap sheet, will be sentenced to 15 years. Their codefendant, a 40-year-old Santa Barbara woman named Rosa Bradley, will be given probation for two years for receiving some of the stolen money.