Former School District Employee Sentenced for Cyberattacks on Former Employer

Former School IT Employee Sentenced to Prison for Cyberattack

A former IT employee at a school district in Iowa has been handed a 21-month prison sentence for orchestrating a prolonged cyberattack against his former employer. The attack, carried out by Ezekiel Dean Potter, disrupted classroom operations, deleted accounts, and caused significant financial damages.

According to court records, Potter, aged 34, served as a senior IT support specialist at the Saydel Community School District in Des Moines from May 2022 to April 2023.

The U.S. government, in a sentencing memorandum, described Potter as a “plague” on the school district for over a year and a half. His actions included deleting the district’s Facebook page, revoking employee access to educational platforms, and attempting to reset usernames and passwords for various accounts.

The cyberattacks caused widespread disruption, hindered the school’s ability to educate students, and incurred substantial remediation costs.

Prosecutors revealed that the attacks commenced shortly after Potter’s departure when the district’s Facebook account was erased. Subsequently, Potter targeted the district’s Apple School Manager account, deleting vital information and impeding the management of MacBooks and iPads.

Further unauthorized access attempts were made against the district’s GoDaddy account and other online services.

In January 2025, Potter gained access to the district’s Schoology learning platform, disrupting classes and teacher access for a brief period. He also deleted multiple Gmail accounts belonging to district employees.

Following his resignation from another company, Potter was linked to the cyberattacks through IP addresses associated with his former employers.

Upon pleading guilty to computer fraud charges, Potter was sentenced to 21 months in prison and three years of supervised release. He is required to pay restitution of $59,668.81 to cover remediation costs for the school district.

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