LulzSec Member Pleads Not Guilty In Stratfor Leak Case

TheGift73 writes with an update on one of the many LulzSec court cases. From the article: "A former LulzSec member has pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he hacked into the servers of global intelligence company Stratfor and stole credit card data and personal details of 860,000 of its clients. Jeremy Hammond entered the plea on Monday during a brief hearing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the Associated Press reported. He's been held in federal custody since an initial court appearance in Chicago in early March, when federal prosecutors named him as a lieutenant of LulzSec ringleader Hector Xavier 'Sabu' Monsegur. There was no request for Hammond to be released on bail during Monday's hearing, according to the AP report."

Evidence...

[sortadan]

Since they arrested him they must have some good idea that its him, but it will be interesting to see what evidence they have, how it was collected, and how they can show it was only he who could have done the deed. With how easy it is to remotely control computers and especially if he had a wifi router, who's to say that his computer wasn't rooted and someone remotely did what he is accused of.

The Real Lulz

[musial]

The real lulz come from the fact that people take Stratfor seriously, and continue to use their overblown moniker of "private intelligence firm". They were/are a news aggregating group that sold stale news articles from REAL news organizations like ITAR TASS and Xinhua. And since most American corporate executives never heard of ITAR TASS, Xinhua, ABN, etc. etc., they were able to pawn it off as their own work. Not only did they sell old news, but they charged a huge price for it. They were essentially an expensive HuffPo with a wanna-be CIA spook edge for effect. Not surprising at all that they didn't encrypt their data, or provide any real security.

Re:Evidence...

[NicBenjamin]

The problem is that circumstantial evidence is still convictable. For example all a fingerprint can do in most cases is place you at the crime scene. But if the crime scene is a stranger's house, you have no plausible reason to have been there, and you've got a criminal record already you are screwed.
In this case the only way the Feds could get evidence of this guy's IP being used in the forums, except for the five minutes he "happened to pop off to the shop" would be if the actual hacker was watching his door. Which would be difficult to pull off without getting caught because a) he'd have to be close enough to use this guy's wireless node, which means he's probably closer to the door then the cops, without being noticed by either guy or cops and b) the guy has publicly claimed to be a hacktivist which means there's no way a jury's gonna believe he didn't know his wi-fi was being stolen.

In other words if the cops have the time logs mentioned this guy is screwed.

I know this guy.

[Chas]

And, unlike his fawning sycophants, I'm going to call him what he is.

A douchebag. Plain and simple.

I was involved with the FBI and helped them put him away the first time.
It's a sad commentary that a couple years in prison didn't straighten him out at all.
I've seen his name pop up a couple times in local news. Usually for some new random act of overweening stupidity.
I'm just stunned that he stooped to credit card theft AGAIN.

Then again, with his record, and his lack of anything even resembling social skills, he's damn near unemployable.

But Jeremy now has what he always desired. A national audience. And, unfortunately, there are just enough brain-sick slobs out there for whom his half-witted messsage is attractive. And he's got a martyr complex the size of the Sears Tower.

He basically belongs in prison, deprived of computer access. Hopefully they'll send him someplace slightly harsher than FCI Greenville this time.

Been there, done that.

[droopus]

I spent 52 months in Feds from 2006 - 2010. IMVHO, this is what's happening, at least on the legal side. He will never get bail. He's innocent till proven guilty, of course, but fed bail is supposedly all about flight risk. "Danger to the community" implies guilt so it can't be used..technically. The question for the Magistrate (who usually decides bail, not the Trial Judge) is: does a set of conditions exist which will assure the defendant's appearance at court? And that, is typically up to the US Attorney or AUSA. I did not get bail and was held at Donald W Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls, RI for 22 months before finally pleading out.

If Hammond goes to trial, he will never get out. 92% of all fed criminal cases plead out. Why? Because when the choice is possibly three mandatory life sentences vs five years, you end up taking the lesser of two evils. The Feds add all sorts of sentencing enhancements to make it so risky to roll the dice with a jury, it just isn't worth it. I was not guilty of the offense it was claimed I committed, but I couldn't risk the rest of my life on being able to convince 12 people too stupid to get out of jury duty.

Hammond's other option is USSG 5K1.1 (Sentence reduction for substantial assistance in convicting another criminal.) The Government must submit a motion for this reduction, IF they like what you snitch. There are other options such as the Safety Valve (for which Hammond is not eligible due to previous offenses. Rapper T.I. got out of prison after like 18 months for machine guns and silencers because he gave the Government substantial assistance. Real gangsta.

If Hammond miraculously gets out anytime within the next ten years, he got a 5K1.1, most likely. When the feds want you, you're fucked.