Anonymous Hacker Enters Guilty Plea Over Stratfor Hack

Anonymous hacker Jeremy Hammond, 28, on Friday decided to plead guilty in his fight against US private intelligence firm Stratfor.

Hammond and a group of Antisec member breached the company’s website and passed along internal files to Wikileaks.

Speaking from his Free Jeremy Hammond website on Tuesday the hacker revealed that he has plead guilty in New York City federal court. Hammond was facing charges of Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). Hammond writes:

“I believe in the power of the truth. In keeping with that, I do not want to hide what I did or to shy away from my actions. This non-cooperating plea agreement frees me to tell the world what I did and why, without exposing any tactics or information to the government and without jeopardizing the lives and well-being of other activists on and offline.”

While Hammond admits that he would have likely lost the trial and may have spent 30 years behind bars, he also admits that it was a “very difficult decision” in pleading guilty. Hammond says he took the “most practical” route that would help him, him family, and his supporters.

In explaining why he exposed Stratfor documents including various emails, Jeremy Hammond writes:

“I did this because I believe people have a right to know what governments and corporations are doing behind closed doors. I did what I believe is right,” he wrote.

Antisec, an off-shoot of Anonymous, was working with Hector Xavier Monsegur, also known as “Sabu. ” Hector, at the time, was working as an FBI informant.

Jeremy Hammond has already spent 15 months in prison. He will be sentenced in New York City on September 6.

Do you think Hammond made the right decision in pleading guilty, or should he have fought the case in order to bring more attention to Anonymous’ fight against big government?

[Image via Wikipedia / Jim Newberry]