anarchist hacker jeremy hammond’s sentencing postponed until mid-november

by Tim Phillips

On May 28, Jeremy Hammond pled guilty to a single count of conspiracy to engage in computer hacking. Hammond was arrested in March 2012 in connection with a breach of the Texas-based intelligence contractor Strategic Forecasting Inc. (Stratfor), which compiles dossiers on activists. He faces up to 10 years in prison. According to Hammond’s statement regarding his plea,

Now that I have pleaded guilty it is a relief to be able to say that I did work with Anonymous to hack Stratfor, among other websites. Those others included military and police equipment suppliers, private intelligence and information security firms, and law enforcement agencies. 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.

Hammond was supposed to be sentenced in September, but this morning The Sparrow Project reported that his sentencing has been postponed until November 15. He will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska, who Anonymous reported was married to a client of Stratfor. Yet Judge Preska refused to recuse herself, stating in an Order that “to the extent that there is a record of a two-week subscription in [her husband’s] name,” he does not recall requesting the subscription.

Earlier this month, Hammond’s twin brother Jason was arrested for allegedly attacking white supremacists in the Chicago suburb of Tinley Park in May 2012. The white supremacists were apparently attending the fifth annual White Nationalist Economic Summit and Illinois White Nationalist Meet-and-Greet. In January, the Tinley Park 5 accepted non-cooperating plea deals related to the incident. They are currently serving sentences ranging from three to six years.