Freelance journalist Barret Brown was sentenced to five years in prison for his involvement in the hacking of a private intelligence firm. A Dallas federal judge sentenced Brown to 63 months in prison, including the 31 months he had already served.

Like Us on Facebook

Brown's case stemmed from his posting of a link to credit card information, stolen by hacking group Anonymous member Jeremy Hammond. The stolen data, which included e-mails, credit card numbers and other private information, belonged to customers of Texas-based intelligence company Stratfor.  Hammond has been sentenced to 10 years for the Stratfor hack.

Brown was convicted of several charges including aiding in cyber crime.  He did not have an actual participation in the hack, but he admitted sharing the stolen data in a private chat room. 

Brown initially faced a maximum penalty of 105 years in prison.  Last year, he pleaded guilty to lesser charges, such as attempting to assist a hacker, hiding computers from FBI agents conducting a search, and publicly threatening an FBI agent using a video sharing site.  His admission to these charges brought his term down to 8.5 years. 

Brown regretted his actions, particularly the threats he made against an FBI official. 

"The videos were idiotic, and although I made them in a manic state brought on by sudden withdrawal from Paxil and Suboxone, and while distraught over the threats to prosecute my mother, that's still me in those YouTube clips talking nonsense about how the FBI would never take me alive," he said.

The case was highlighted in debates over legal issues surrounding hacking. Brown's supporters denounce his conviction calling it a violation of free speech. 

His critics however see its importance, now that President Barack Obama wants a tougher implementation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. 

Brown issued a statement calling his sentence "good news."

"The U.S. government decided today that because I did such a good job investigating the cyber-industrial complex, they're now going to send me to investigate the prison-industrial complex," Brown said.

"For the next 35 months, I'll be provided with free food, clothes, and housing as I seek to expose wrongdoing by Bureau of Prisons officials and staff and otherwise report on news and culture in the world's greatest prison system. ... Wish me luck!" he added.  

Tagsbarret brown, hacking, cybersecurity, Anonymous, journalist, sentence, Convicted, jeremy hammond, stratfor, fbi agent