KRISTIN MELODY
STAFF WRITER

Student Matt Weaver, who was arrested last month on suspicion of tampering with computer ballots in campus elections, is also under investigation for about 700 possible cases of identity theft from students, a Cal State San Marcos spokeswoman said last week.

“Yes that is true. We know that about 700 passwords and user names were compromised,” said Margaret Lutz Chantung, a CSUSM public information officer. “I am not aware of any staff or faculty members compromised.”

After discovering the account break-ins on March 15, the university’s Instructional & Information Technology Services (IITS) locked the compromised accounts and the affected students were required to reset their passwords, she said.

Accusations tying Weaver to possible identity theft first arose after the university suspected someone had hacked into its computers and tampered with files in the elections for Associated Students Inc., the university reported last month.

The voting —- all of which is done online —- ran from March 12 to March 15. But instead of announcing election results on March 16, the university declared the elections invalid, and rescheduled them for May.

Weaver, a third year business major and one of two candidates running for ASI president, was arrested on the final day of online balloting, the university reported.

Weaver was jailed March 15 on suspicion of election fraud, unlawful access to a computer or database, and 10 counts of identity theft. He posted $50,000 bail the following day, according to court records.

When arrested, Weaver had in his possession a device that can be used to illegally obtain students’ logins and passwords, according to a university report.

No charges were filed; Weaver’s formal arraignment in March was postponed indefinitely as authorities continued their investigation.

The university declined to comment on whether Weaver has been expelled from the university.

Weaver was reached by email but declined to comment on the allegations.

Until Weaver is formally charged, it’s hard to gauge what sort of legal consequences he may face, but one legal expert said that the commission of this type crime could lead to university punishment as well as a state trial.

The alleged misuse of private computer information is extremely serious, it could conceivably justify expulsion,” said David Steinberg, a law professor at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego. Criminal chargers could be brought to a case like this, “you could conceivably charge the defendant for 700 cases of internet fraud, or internet theft.”

The courts take very seriously the importance of protecting the public’s security on the Internet, Steinberg said.

“It is possible to look at this as a simple prank like something out of the ‘Animal House’ movie, but this is not a simple college prank,” said Steinberg.

Weaver served as an editor of the Koala, an underground campus newspaper. Critics of the polarizing publication say its articles —- one gave the “top five excuses for rape” —- are offensive and cross the line into sexual harassment. Supporters raise free-speech arguments.

The Koala hasn’t been distributed on campus since October, when a controversial issue depicted a female student with her head grafted on to a pornographic image, leading to complaints and protests from members of the Women’s Studies department and a call from campus organizations for improved student civility.

Stephen Di Padova, a cartoonist who spent nearly a year on the Koala staff with Weaver, said that in recent months Weaver had been trying to distance himself from the publication and move instead into student politics.

“He was far too uninterested in the perpetuation of the paper, and was in the process of trying to slide out of his implied position of the editor,” said Di Padova, who also contributes to The Cougar Chronicle.

Other students interviewed on campus this week had mixed feelings on the case and Weaver.

“I’m sure he didn’t think through that it was a serious crime,” said Krista, a sophomore who asked that her last name not be used. “I’m sure he was under a lot of pressure being associated with the Koala.”

Student Andrea Hook is no fan of the Koala and said that she felt Weaver practiced a double-standard in his writing for the publication.

“He would write for freedom of speech, but not for freedom of privacy,” Hook said.

Jessie Gambrell contributed to this article.