Eleven of the 14 people believed to be connected to the hacker group Anonymous who were arrested in 2011 for launching a cyberattack on PayPalare set to plead guilty as part of a deal reached with federal prosecutors. The question is whether the Justice Department will approve the deal.
Lawyers for the defendants revealed this week that 11 of the “PayPal 14” members are ready to accept the deal.
But gossip says the deal offered by federal prosecutors is only beneficial if 13 of the defendants accept it. (Any final agreement will not include the 14thmember , Dennis Collins, after he was indicted earlier this month for another Anonymous-related attack on credit card companies and the music industry.)
It is unclear whether the deal will include prison time. Several lawyers involved in the case declined to provide details, citing the confidentiality of the negotiations. One lawyer called the deal “extremely good, but very fragile” and declined to say whether it would include prison time.
As of Wednesday evening, lawyers for Jeffrey Puglisi, Tracy Ann Valenzuela and Christopher Quang Vo indicated that their clients were willing to accept the agreement.
Most of the cases for the defendants in the Paypal 14 case are being heard in federal court in San Jose, California, on Thursday morning.
