Hacker Sentenced to 5 Months in Prison

Convicted computer hacker Justin Petersen was sentenced to five months in prison after he admitted violating terms of his supervised release by becoming a fugitive in September. Petersen, 38, is best known for pursuing illegal hacking activities even while working as an informant for the FBI in the early 1990s. The sentence was issued in Los Angeles by U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson, who imposed the minimum penalty even while describing Petersen’s excuses for his run from the law as “a lot of whining.” Petersen, who was recaptured Dec. 11 in a Studio City apartment, remains under order to pay $39,000 in restitution to his hacking victims, said federal prosecutor David Schindler. Petersen’s latest disappearance was the second time he has been a federal fugitive in the 1990s.