WICHITA — A jury on Thursday convicted a Larned man on federal charges of arranging for a series of denial of service attacks on a Kansas internet service provider, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said.

The jury convicted Michael D. Golightley, 35, Larned, on seven counts of damaging a protected computer and one count of threatening to damage a computer connected to the internet.

During trial in U.S. District Court in Wichita, prosecutors presented evidence that Golightley contacted an entity called DDosCity to arrange for a series of attacks on Nex-Tech’s computers.

Nex-Tech is an internet service provider with offices in Hays, Lenora, Beloit, Concordia, Courtland, Dodge City, Downs, Great Bend, Hill City, Hoxie, McPherson, Norton, Osborne, Phillipsburg, Plainville, Quinter, Russell, Salina, Smith Center, Stockton and WaKeeney.

Prosecutors presented evidence that on March 30 and 31, 2017, Nex-Tech was hit by six denial of service attacks, which caused Nex-Tech’s computers to become inaccessible to the public. 

 Before the attacks, Golightley sent Nex-Tech two threats. He was angry about the company removing an ad he placed on Nex-Tech Classifieds for a PlayStation 3 game that had been “jail broken,” or modified to bypass a system security check. Golightley placed the ad a second time and sent Nex-Tech a warning that he would “violate this site by bringing it offline” if the ad were removed again. He added: “If u make me upset, I will retaliate — your choice.”

Sentencing is set for July 1. He faces a penalty of up to five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on each count. McAllister commended the FBI, the Hays Police Department, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Metzger and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan McCarty for their work on the case.