Sister of Accused Georgia Tech Hacker Launches GoFundMe to Raise Funds for Legal Fees

Seeking to help her brother and accused Georgia Tech Hacker fight his battle with Georgia’s Clarke Country, Sage Pickren has debuted a crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe called “Free Ryan Pickren” to raise $30,000 for his legal fees.

According to Online Athens, Sage started the campaign after Ryan was indicted on December 16th by Clarke County grand jury for computer trespass. The hack occurred on Thanksgiving, two days before the Georgia Tech’s rivalry with University of Georgia. An entry was added to the rival university’s online calendar that read “Get a** kicked by GT.”

University of Georgia’s officials reported that the calendar entry was on the website for only an hour before it was removed. Another Thanksgiving hacks on the university website – using the website walmartacademy.com to direct people to the website, and using ugagrads.com to direct to the McDonald’s online career page – were also discovered.

Following the indictment on December 16th, a Superior Court judge issued a bench warrant for Ryan’s arrest. He surrendered at the Clarke County Jail and was released on a $5,000 bond. The computer trespass offense is punishable with a maximum of 15 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

Sage wrote on the campaign’s website, “Unfortunately, my brother, Ryan Pickren, has been indicted by a grand jury for allegedly adding an event during rivalry week to The University of Georgia’s online school calendar. The event was titled “Get Ass Kicked by Georgia Tech.” I’m starting a fund to help him pay his legal fees and to clear his good name.

All additional proceeds will be distributed equally to The Georgia Fund and GT Roll Call, the unrestricted annual funds for the two schools in commemoration of this great/historic college rivalry!”

Since its launch, the campaign has raised over $10,000 thanks to nearly 215 backers, including George P. Burdell, a fictitious Tech student first “enrolled” in the school in 1927.