Jeremiah Joseph Mondello's big mistake  was committing cyber crimes -- on U.S. soil. That put him within the reach of U.S. law enforcement. The 23-year-old Eugene, Ore. millennial faces up to 27 years in prison and a $500,000 fine for aggravated identity theft, mail fraud  and selling counterfeit software. The feds deserve kudos for taking down Mondello.  Yet, in the $100 billion-plus global cyber crime market, Mondello is a miniscule potato.

Consider how another millennial Dmitry Ivanovich Golubov, 24, of the Ukraine, has skirted incarceration, despite long topping the most wanted cyber crooks lists at the FBI and Scotland Yard.  Operating in Eastern Europe, Golubov, aka Script, has become something of a mythological figure among hackers and cyber thieves. He admits to frying thumb drives and disks in a wok, presumably to keep the data stored on those portable media from getting into the hands of cops pounding on his door. And last fall he entered politics, creating and heading up the Internet Party of Ukraine. Golubov the politician aspires to provide free computer classes and foreign-language training to citizens. Way to give back to the community, Script.

By Byron Acohido