CHICAGO (WLS) — Jeremy Hammond served a 10-year prison sentence in one of the largest computer hacking scandals in history.
He became a big name in the criminal hacking world beginning 20 years ago, eventually landing in federal prison for compromising personal information from a private intelligence company. Hammond branded this as electronic civil disobedience. The ex-con is facing new criminal charges for alleged hooligan-style behavior during Democratic National Convention protests.
In the most violent clash with Chicago police during last week’s DNC, that began outside the Israeli consulate in Chicago, authorities have charged Hammond with spray painting an anarchist symbol on a Chicago police patrol car, according to a police report obtained by the I-Team. The vandalism by Hammond is alleged to have occurred as a Chicago police officer watched and then took him into custody.
Hammond is no stranger to the criminal justice system. The I-Team began reporting on the Glendale Heights native when he was in his 20s, and the face behind the term “hacktivist.”
In 2013, Hammond was sentenced to a decade behind bars, after he led a group of hackers known as Anonymous to break into the private intelligence firm Stratfor. Investigators say they stole credit card data, personal records for hundreds of thousands of customers, making $700,000 in illegal charges.
Two years ago, Chicago federal judge Edmond Chang granted early release from court supervision to Hammond, citing his “successful transition back to society.”
