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  "description": "A federal computer fraud case detailed about 21 months of disruptions to classroom platforms, staff accounts and district device management.",
  "path": "/saydel-iowa-cyber-sabotage/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-12T00:03:24.000Z",
  "site": "https://dysruptionhub.com",
  "tags": [
    "Des Moines Register",
    "public computers were taken offline",
    "manipulating menu allergen information"
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  "textContent": "A former Saydel Community School District information technology worker in Iowa was sentenced June 11 after prosecutors said he disrupted school technology systems used by students and staff.\n\nThe disruptions affected classroom technology, staff accounts and district-managed devices after Ezekiel Dean Potter left the district. Saydel Community School District serves the Des Moines area and has about 1,400 students across three schools.\n\nPotter, 34, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to computer fraud, the Des Moines Register reported. He also was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay nearly $60,000 in restitution to the district and its insurer.\n\nFederal prosecutors previously said Potter was charged by a grand jury Oct. 15, 2025, after accessing or attempting to access his former employer’s systems without authorization after his April 2023 termination. The indictment alleged he reset usernames and passwords, deleted accounts or revoked access, and caused “widespread disruption” and tens of thousands of dollars in losses.\n\nThe Register reported Potter worked for Saydel from May 2022 to April 2023 and carried out attacks for about 21 months after leaving. The disruptions included deleting the district’s Facebook profile, disabling management of Apple iPads and MacBooks, attempting to interfere with website hosting, temporarily disabling access to Schoology, a classroom learning platform used for assignments and instruction, and deleting employee email accounts.\n\nThe Schoology disruption happened during a school day and temporarily left teachers unable to use the platform for instruction, the Register reported.\n\n****Chip in once****\nIf this reporting helped you, a one-time tip helps cover hosting, tools and future investigations.\n\nTip us\n\n****Support us monthly****\nA small monthly pledge keeps independent coverage and our reader tools online for everyone.\n\nBecome a Supporter\n\nInvestigators traced some activity to computers at Potter’s later employers, Casey’s and The Printer Inc., according to the Register. Potter was arrested after a former coworker reported a USB drive Potter allegedly had asked the coworker to retrieve and delete. The drive contained login information for hundreds of Saydel user accounts and other district files, the newspaper reported.\n\nAt sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Lubben said Potter’s actions escalated to the point that he was “stopping education for students across the district,” according to the Register.\n\nThe U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa prosecuted the case as computer fraud tied to insider sabotage and unauthorized access. The FBI investigated with assistance from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.\n\nThe Saydel case follows other insider-linked disruption cases. In Florida, a former Clearwater library technology employee has pleaded not guilty to a felony charge after investigators alleged public computers were taken offline at three branches. In a separate federal case, a former Walt Disney World employee was sentenced in 2025 to three years in prison after pleading guilty to computer intrusions that included manipulating menu allergen information and locking employees out of accounts.\n\nPotter’s sentence closes the federal criminal case, but public records reviewed by DysruptionHub do not show whether personal data was exposed, whether all compromised accounts were remediated or whether Saydel changed offboarding and privileged-access controls after the incident. The district did not respond to a request for comment before publication.\n\n****Attribution note:**** DysruptionHub credits upstream reporting and primary sources—see citations above. If this report informed your coverage, please cite DysruptionHub with a link.",
  "title": "Former Saydel schools IT worker sentenced for Iowa cyber sabotage",
  "updatedAt": "2026-06-12T00:08:28.978Z"
}