Hacker avoids maximum 440-year sentence, hit with misdemeanor instead

Fidel Salinas avoided a potential 440-year maximum sentence.

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The Southern District of Texas offered a misdemeanor plea deal to hacker Fidel Salinas, 28, just a few months after the hacker was charged with 44 felony counts of computer fraud and cyberstalking. Each count had a maximum 10-year prison sentence, totaling a potential 440 years in prison.

Hacker avoids maximum 440-year sentence, hit with misdemeanor instead | TweakTown.com

Instead, the suspected Anonymous-linked hacker plead guilty to one misdemeanor count of computer fraud and abuse - and must also pay $10,000. He faces up to one year in prison when sentenced on February 2, 2015, and his attorney will argue the monetary restitution is enough.

Salinas reportedly tried to access the Hidalgo County administrative website, using a script that racked up more than 14,000 access attempts. The brute force attack led county IT administrators to be locked out of the system themselves.

An experienced tech journalist and marketing specialist, Michael joins TweakTown to cover everything from cars & electric vehicles to solar and green energy topics. A former Staff Writer at DailyTech, Michael is now the Cars & Electric Vehicles News Reporter and will contribute news stories on a daily basis. In addition to contributing here, Michael also runs his own tech blog, AlamedaTech.com, while he looks to remain busy in the tech world.

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