LulzSec Leader Sabu, Still Working With Feds, Gets Temporary Sentencing Reprieve

Wondering what the former leader of LulzSec has been up to after his cover was blown as a federal informant and he pleaded guilty to hacking charges? He's still cooperating with federal authorities, according to a new court filing.

Today was the day that Hector Xavier Monsegur, a.k.a. Sabu, Xavier DeLeon, and Leon, was supposed to be sentenced for the 12 counts of computer hacking conspiracies and other crimes he pleaded guilty to, including the infamous hacks of HBGary Federal, HBGary, Sony, Fox, and PBS. Monsegur allegedly rooted out the vulnerabilities used in the hacks conducted by LulzSec, which went on a high-profile tear in 2011 that exposed emails, documents, and other information of its victim organizations. The original indictment says that from around December 2010 until June 7, 2011, Monsegur exploited the bugs himself or passed them onto others to do the same. In addition, he provided "infrastructure" to other hackers for launching attacks on victim networks -- and also allegedly performed financial fraud.

He pleaded guilty in exchange for assisting the FBI in catching other members of LulzSec and Anonymous.

Wired, which yesterday reported the latest development in Sabu's case, also published a letter from Preet Bharara, U.S. District Attorney, that requested a six-month delay in Sabu's sentencing "in light of the defendant's ongoing cooperation with the Government," according to the document. The U.S. District judge in the case granted that extension, and Sabu now will be sentenced on Feb. 22, 2013, instead.

Sabu basically dropped off of the grid last summer after several members of LulzSec, a splinter group of Anonymous, were arrested. Speculation at the time centered around whether he, too, had been nabbed. It was later revealed that he had pleaded guilty to hacking charges in August 2011 in exchange for serving as an informant on his fellow LulzSec members. The FBI equipped Sabu, an unemployed father of two, with a special laptop he used from his home in New York City, where he operated under the watchful eye of the feds.

Monsegur has been out of the public view for months now. In April, he was scheduled to appear in court in Manhattan for criminal impersonation charges, but was a no-show for his arraignment due to worries about his physical safety, The Smoking Gun reported.

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