The Romanian national who claimed he breached Hillary Clinton’s private email server pleaded guilty on Wednesday to two hacking-related charges.
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In an appearance before a court in the Eastern District of Virginia, Marcel Lazar, known online as “Guccifer,” pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer and one count of aggravated identity theft.
Reports earlier in the week indicated Guccifer was prepared to accept a plea deal that involved cooperating with federal law enforcement seeking additional information about his exploits. The hacker has claimed he holds information stolen from Clinton’s server in a cloud, and that he had seen evidence of up to ten other entities from around the world infiltrating the server.
The extent of Guccifer’s success in hacking the server could influence whether the FBI recommends charges for Clinton related to mishandling classified information.
“It would demonstrate that any classified information that was on the server was subject to compromise, so it would be a piece of evidence used in building a case [that Clinton] violated the various statutes that prohibit storing or maintaining classified information in an improper location,” former U.S. attorney Joseph DiGenova told the Washington Examiner this month.
Additional information on the plea deal is forthcoming, with a statement from the U.S. attorney for the district expected later in the day.
