ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The former Walt Disney World employee arrested last year amid accusations he altered allergen information on menus after being terminated has been sentenced to federal prison, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Michael Scheuer, 40, of Winter Garden, was arrested in October 2024 and pleaded guilty in January following an FBI investigation.
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According to court documents, Scheuer conducted a series of computer intrusions or attacks directed at his former employer following his termination. These intrusions included manipulating allergen information in restaurant menus to indicate that food items were safe for customers with certain allergies when they were not. Scheuer also altered menu information related to wine regions to reflect locations of recent mass shootings. Additionally, Scheuer launched denial-of-service attacks designed to lock certain company employees out of their accounts.
Winter Garden Man Sentenced to 3 Years IN FEDERAL PRISON for Conducting Series of Cyber Intrusions Against Former Employer (excerpt)
Disney said it caught the changes before the menus were shipped to restaurants and was forced to take its menu creation program offline for more than a week, what the company claims cost at least $150,000.
On Thursday, the DOJ announced U.S. District Judge Julie S. Sneed had sentenced Scheuer to three years in federal prison “for knowingly transmitting a program, code, or command to a protected computer and intentionally causing damage and for committing aggravated identity theft,” a news release states.
Scheuer was further ordered to forfeit his computer and to pay $687,776.50 in restitution to the victims, the release added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.