Winter Garden police arrest UCF student on grade-hacking charges

Winter Garden police arrested a University of Central Florida student earlier this month for his alleged involvement in a gradebook-hacking incident at the university.

Orlando resident Samuel Williams, 25, is accused of teaming up with fellow UCF student Sami Ammar to access a computer server without authorization in order to change their failing grades. The incident allegedly occurred May 5 in the university’s Mathematical Sciences building.

According to the arrest affidavit, a Winter Garden police officer conducted a traffic stop on July 3 at Giant Recreation World in Winter Garden after she said Williams ran a stop sign. The officer conducted a teletype search on Williams’s license and ran his information through dispatch, which then alerted the officer that Williams had an active Orange County warrant.

Williams’s arrest warrant states that UCF police previously made several attempts to contact Williams in regard to the incident but received no response. The arrest warrant was issued on June 22 “in reference to offenses against users of computers, computer systems, computer networks and electronic devices,” it states.

Williams was arrested on two counts of accessing a computer electronic device without authority and filed bond the same day, according to court records. He entered a written plea of not guilty on July 12.

Contact Danielle Hendrix at [email protected].