Man sentenced to 2.5 years for role in cybercrime ring that targeted financial institutions

A Massachusetts man who was part of an international cybercrime ring has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison.

Lamar Taylor was sentenced Friday. He was also ordered to pay restitution of $338,649 and to be on supervised release for up to three years after his prison term.

The government says the ring hacked into the computers of more than a dozen leading financial institutions and the U.S. military's payroll service.

Prosecutors say the 38-year-old was asked by others in the conspiracy to cash out bank accounts and pre-paid debit cards opened in other people's names.

They say the ring targeted electronic payment systems of the various institutions in a bid to steal at least $15 million from U.S. customers.