A Kansas woman has pleaded guilty to falsely accusing her ex-wife, a NASA astronaut, of hacking her bank account from the International Space Station. Summer Worden, a former Air Force intelligence officer, had been indicted in 2020 for making false allegations against astronaut Anne McClain.
Worden claimed McClain had illegally accessed the system while she was aboard the International Space Station for six months. She accused her of identity theft in 2019 while the couple was in the midst of a custody battle over their then-6-year-old son. The astronaut would respond very publicly and deny the accusations.
According to the indictment, Worden maintained multiple bank accounts that she allegedly had shared access with Anne McClain. Worden filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), claiming that she had reset her login credentials in 2018, but McClain had hacked her account. In fact, she hadn’t changed her login credentials until at least January 2019.
The astronaut’s ex-wife is now headed to prison
Worden was charged with allegedly filing a false complaint with the FTC on March 19, 2019. As part of her complaint, she “alleged her estranged spouse had guessed the password and illegally accessed her bank account while the spouse was deployed to the International Space Station.” She was also alleged to have made another false statement to the NASA – Office of Inspector General on July 22, 2019.
Summer Worden was facing up to five years in prison on each count and a maximum fine of $250,000. A superseding 2022 indictment also charged Worden with five counts of wire fraud and three counts of unlawful financial transactions. She was accused of scamming eight people, including McClain, out of more than $200,000 in a 2017 land purchase.
After pleading guilty to lying to a federal agent, the prosecutors dropped the other charges. Worden also agreed to pay restitution to the victims of the fraud.
She still could be sentenced to up to five years in prison, however. Currently free on bond, Worden is scheduled to be sentenced on February 12.