Married father-of-two, 36, pleads guilty to stealing nude photos and videos from Hollywood stars in infamous celebrity hacking case

Guilty: Ryan Collins (pictured), 36, pleaded guilty Tuesday to hacking into the email and online accounts of several female celebrities

A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty Tuesday to hacking into the email and online accounts of several female celebrities and stealing private information, including nude photos and videos.

Ryan Collins, 36, was accused of gaining access to more than 100 Google and Apple accounts from November 2012 to September 2014. Many of those accounts belonged to famous women, including Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton.

The father-of-two pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of gaining unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information.

Federal prosecutors said Collins used a scheme called phishing in which he was able to get victims to provide information about their accounts in response to emails that appeared to come directly from Apple and Google. 

In the scheme, he asked account-holders to provide their log-in data, the Los Angeles Times reported. 

In some instances, authorities said, he was able to obtain all the files his victims had stored online, including nude photos and videos.

No celebrities were identified in a plea agreement filed in March. Prosecutors say there was no evidence that Collins posted any of the pilfered images online or shared any information he obtained.

Collins was able to access 50 iCloud accounts and 72 Gmail accounts using the phishing scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

Collins has previously worked as an art director and webmaster, and as a personal chef. According to his Facebook page he is married and has two children

Collins was accused of gaining access to more than 100 Google and Apple accounts from November 2012 to September 2014. Many of those accounts belonged to famous women

Collins was charged as part of an investigation into the posting of nude photos of numerous celebrities, including Lawrence and Upton, but prosecutors said he was not suspected of being involved in releasing those images.

'We continue to see both celebrities and victims from all walks of life suffer the consequences of this crime and strongly encourage users of Internet-connected devices to strengthen passwords and to be skeptical when replying to emails asking for personal information' David Bowdich, the assistant director of the FBI's Los Angeles field office said.

Collins' hacking was discovered while federal officials were investigating 'Celebgate', which was the widespread sharing of stolen, nude celebrity photos on the Internet in September 2014. 

According to the Los Angeles Times, prosecutors are recommending that he serve a prison term of 18 months. 

The sentencing judge may impose the statutory  penalty of five years in prison, as he or she is not bound by that recommendation from prosecutors.  

'Today, people store important private information in their online accounts and in their digital devices,' US Attorney Eileen M. Decker said. 

'Lawless unauthorized access to such private information is a criminal offense. 

'My office remains committed to protecting sensitive and personal information from the malicious actions of sophisticated hackers and cybercriminals.'

No date was set for sentencing. Collins' attorney didn't immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.

The hacked celebrities include Jennifer Lawrence, left, and Kate Upton, right, but prosecutors said Collins was not suspected of being involved in releasing those images

According to his Facebook page Collins is married and has two children. He is originally from Hershey, Pennsylvania, and currently lives in Lancaster.

His LinkedIn profile says he graduated from James Madison University in 2003 with a degree in integrated science and technology. 

He works as a creative project manager for the eCommerce marketing company Listrak in Lancaster.

He has previously worked as an art director and webmaster, and as a personal chef.