.png)
Ryan Cleary stands outside Southwark Crown Court on June 27, 2011 in London, England. Mr Cleary is charged with hacking into the website of the United Kingdom's Serious Organised Crime Agency as part of a Scotland Yard and FBI investigation into online hacking group LulzSec. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
An alleged member of the LulzSec hacking group was indicted in Los Angeles on Tuesday on federal charges, the FBI said on Wednesday.
The 20-year-old Ryan Cleary, a resident and citizen of Britain who is already jailed in England where he faces prosecution over similar charges, is accused of harnessing compromised computers with other LulzSec members to steal confidential information, deface websites, or attack servers.
Prosecutors said Cleary participated in multiple attacks targeting the Fox and PBS television networks and Sony’s film and TV studio. An offshoot of the global hacking group Anonymous, LulzSec has taken credit for hacking attacks on government and private sector websites.
The charges come just over two months after accused LulzSec hacker Cody Kretsinger pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles this April to participating in an extensive computer breach of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Cleary was arrested in June 2011 at his home in Wickford, England for alledgely taking part in attacks against Britain’s Serious Organised Crime Agency. He is currently in jail awaiting trial.
If convicted of the charges in the United States, Cleary faces a statutory maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.
