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Feds: NYC hacker also involved with drug dealing, theft

The American computer hacker who shook the Internet underground by becoming an FBI informant didn't just break the law on the Web. Documents indicate he also carried a gun and was involved in drug dealing.
/ Source: The Associated Press

The American computer hacker who shook the Internet underground by becoming an FBI informant didn't just break the law on the Web. Documents indicate he also carried a gun and was involved in drug dealing.

Court documents show that in exchange for his cooperation, federal prosecutors agreed not to prosecute admitted hacker Hector Xavier Monsegur for a variety of other crimes, including his attempted sale of a pound of marijuana in 2010 and another four pounds in 2003.

They also agreed not to prosecute him for gun possession, purchasing stolen jewelry and running up $15,000 on a former employer's credit card.

Monsegur pleaded guilty to computer crimes in August.

His cooperation with federal agents led to five arrests and the breakup of a feared hacker group called Lulzsec.

Meanwhile, Monsegur is being thrown out of his apartment. New York City's housing authority confirmed Friday that it has been going to court for two years to get Monsegur evicted from his late grandmother's apartment in a public housing project. It recently got an eviction order.

Also new on Friday was information that Monsegur is facing charges that he impersonated a federal agent.

The charge was filed after an encounter between the hacker and a uniformed police officer at the housing project on Feb. 3.

The officer says in a court complaint that when he asked Monsegur for identification, the hacker replied, "Relax. I'm a federal agent." It's unclear whether the officer was aware at the time that Monsegur was an FBI informant.