LOCAL : Cohort Admits Helping Hacker

Leonard DiCicco, a former friend of admitted hacker and computer “addict” Kevin Mitnick, pleaded guilty today to helping Mitnick steal a computer program from a Massachusetts company over the phone lines.

DiCicco, 23, admitted that he permitted Mitnick to gain access to a computer at DiCicco’s Calabasas workplace last December. Mitnick used the computer and telephone lines to steal a security program belonging to Digital Equipment Corp. in Massachusetts, DiCicco told U.S. District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer.

DiCicco of Calabasas pleaded guilty to one count of aiding the interstate transportation of stolen property. The crime carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but federal sentencing guidelines recommend substantially less. DiCicco faces sentencing on Oct. 5. Mitnick, 25, of Panorama City, pleaded guilty to illegally possessing long-distance telephone codes that helped him crack Digital’s system and stealing the Digital computer program. He was ordered to spend a year in prison and undergo counseling.