14 DAY TRIAL // Adam John Bennett, known in Anonymous circles under his nickname Lorax, has pleaded guilty to six charges, five of being complicit in a crime and one of hacking his employer.
Mr. Bennett is the third hacker associated with Anonymous Australia arrested by authorities, after the Australia - Indonesia cyber war where hacking groups from both sides hacked Indonesian and Australian government websites. All three were found guilty of inciting and participating in the attacks.
The other two were Mathew Hutchison (Rax) and Justin Soyke (Juzzy, Absantos). According to DataBreaches.net, Hutchison was sentenced to a two-year community corrections order and community service, while Soyke received three years in jail, with twelve months to serve before being released on a three-year recognizance.
According to The Cryptosphere, Mr. Bennett, arrested in May 2014, was facing 28 charges, but recently, Australian prosecutors dropped 22 of them due to a lack of evidence.
Mounting legal fees drive Lorax to admit guilty charges
Mr. Bennett's side, facing mounting legal fees that have come to be around $200,000 (€182,000), are hoping for a reduced sentence that does not include jail time.
Despite the reduced charges, the Australian prosecution did not drop the "hacking his employer" accusation, which is extremely ridiculous. All the time after he was arrested, the defense always said that Mr. Bennett did not do anything illegal, but merely pen-tested his employer's server for the Heartbleed vulnerability, something he was paid to do.
Prior to being arrested, Mr. Bennett was the radio host of the Lorax Live show on RadioAnonOps. Because of his high profile in the Anonymous community, many have speculated that prosecutors are trying to make an example out of him, using Australia's recently adopted anti-hacking legislation.
Despite his popularity, a fundraiser held in Mr. Bennett's name failed to raise more than $3,000 (€2,700) for his legal fees.
Mr. Bennett now awaits his sentence, scheduled for March 2016.
UPDATE: The article was modified to remove the mentions of a plea deal. The prosecution dropped the charges, there was no type of deal between the two sides.
