Accused Capital One Hacker In Danger In Federal Jail, Lawyers Say

SEATTLE, WA — Attorneys representing accused Capital One hacker Paige Thompson are asking for her to be released from federal detention as her case proceeds. Thompson poses no risk to others, and is in danger in federal detention as a transgender woman because she is being held in the men's section, the lawyers argue.

On July 29, the FBI raided Thompson's South Beach Hill home, arresting her on a charge of computer fraud for taking data on over 100 million Capital One customers and others who applied for accounts. Federal prosecutors believe she stole data from 30 other companies and institutions.

Last week, federal prosecutors argued that Thompson, 33, should be kept at the SeaTac detention center during court proceedings due to her history of stalking, suicide threats, and a threat she made to "shoot up" a California social media company.

READ: Capital One Hacker Took Data From 30 Other Companies, Feds Say

Thompson's attorneys argue that the government has provided weak evidence that Thompson is actually a flight risk or a dangerous person. Federal prosecutors cited an incident from March, when Seattle police went to Thompson's home after she got into an argument with her housemates. She told them she would point a fake gun at police to commit "suicide by cop."

But Thompson's roommate, Diane Eakes, is quoted in the Tuesday filing speaking on Thompson's behalf about the March incident.

"The ‘fake gun’ that the police wrote about was a neon orange squirt gun. No one took her fake gun threat seriously because the ‘gun’ was a neon orange squirt gun. The police saw the orange squirt gun," Eakes says in the filing. "I believe that Ms. Thompson was hoping to get kicked out of our home that night and I understand her frustrations. I know what Ms. Thompson will and won’t do, and she will not harm others."

Thompson is at greater risk of committing suicide in federal lockup, her lawyers say. They cite the recent suicide of pedophile Jeffrey Epstein at a federal detention facility as evidence that inmates can't be kept safe.

"Though all confinement poses these risks, a pre-trial facility poses particularly high risks. Whereas upon sentencing, Ms. Thompson could potentially be sent to a facility with the capacity to set up a system to protect her from abuse in the least restrictive setting, at a pre-trial facility the population is transient and any security is short-lived and disrupted by the regular influx of new detainees," the ACLU wrote in support of Thompson's release.

The filing also goes into detail about Thompson's life. She was born in Kansas City, Mo., and grew up in Arkansas with a single mother, the documents say. She was drawn to computers at age 6, and came to Seattle in her 20s to be part of a larger tech community.

"Computers provided Ms. Thompson access to a community she lacked. She made friends who shared her interests. Ms. Thompson left her home for Seattle and built roots in the Pacific Northwest. Aside from a few trips abroad with friends, and a brief time living in Las Vegas, Washington has been [Thompson’s] consistent home," the lawyers say about Thompson, who once worked for Amazon Web Services.

Thompson's public defenders have asked a federal judge to release her to a halfway house under GPS monitoring. Thompson is set to appear in federal court in Seattle on Friday at 11 a.m. for a detention hearing.