Hacker Pleads Guilty

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — A South Texas man linked to the hacking collective Anonymous has pleaded guilty to trying to access the Hidalgo County server about 14,000 times.   

Prosecutors say Fidel Salinas of Donna in January 2012 bombarded the government system with wrong passwords over a two-day period.

Salinas pleaded guilty Thursday in McAllen to attempted computer hacking. The plea deal requires him to pay more than $10,000 in restitution. He faces sentencing in February.

Prosecutors say Salinas ran a script from his computer on the administrative web site of Hidalgo County and in the process locked up the system. Repairs cost about $10,000.

Authorities have said Salinas was found to frequent a chat room run by Anonymous with ideas on undermining security measures. An attorney for Salinas denied connections to the hacking group.