14 DAY TRIAL // Self-proclaimed Anonymous spokesperson Barrett Brown has been charged with one count of concealment of evidence and one count of corrupting concealing evidence. This is the third series of charges brought against the 31-year-old activist.
Authorities say that, in March 2012, Brown concealed two laptops in an effort to evade federal investigation, Ars Technica informs.
Back in October 2012, the Dallas Observer cited an anonymous source as saying that the FBI seized Brown’s laptops during a raid on his mother’s house. The computers were apparently concealed in some dishes.
The latest indictment points to someone with the initials KM, presumably the activist’s mother, who allegedly helped Brown hide the device.
According to a statement posted by Brown on Pastebin shortly after the incident, on March 6, 2012, the FBI raided his house. At the time he was at his mother’s house so they paid him a visit there.
They asked him if he had any laptops there, but he told them he didn’t. However, a few hours later, the “Feds” returned with a search warrant for his mother’s place. That’s when they found the laptops which he’s now accused of concealing.
Besides these charges, Brown is also accused of threatening an FBI agent, and of sharing the information leaked by hackers from Stratfor.
He was arrested in September 2012, shortly after publishing the YouTube video in which he threatened FBI agent Robert Smith.
Brown’s former lawyer, Jay Leiderman, told Wired that “Barrett believes in privacy for individuals and transparency for corporations and government. The government doesn’t like his belief system. And Barrett was effective in expressing that belief system.”
He highlights the fact that the activist could be sentenced to a maximum of 100 years in prison simply for making YouTube videos, sharing a link and for allegedly trying to hide two laptops.