I know both of them somewhat (I was in Ilya's YC batch!) and I'm completely inclined to believe this article/statement to be accurate -- especially since it matches what the federal courts accept as true.

Crime is bad. Don't do crime. I wouldn't put an ex-massive-thief in charge of discretionary defensive security for something, but the computer security has a long history of using the knowledge and expertise of former thieves/etc. to improve security, so I'm hopeful there will be a way he can contribute positively to society once he gets out of prison.