Barrett Brown had the book thrown at him by a Dallas judge on charges related to the hacking attack on private US intelligence firm Stratfor.

Brown got five years and three months for aiding and abetting, attempting to hide evidence, and threatening a Federal officer, and will have to pay a fine of $890,000, most of which will go to Stratfor.

Barrett said in a statement: "For the next 35 months, I'll be provided with free food, clothes, and housing as I seek to expose wrongdoing by Bureau of Prisons officials and staff and otherwise report on news and culture in the world's greatest prison system. I want to thank the Department of Justice for having put so much time and energy into advocating on my behalf; rather than holding a grudge against me for the two years of work I put into in bringing attention to a DOJ-linked campaign to harass and discredit journalists like Glenn Greenwald, the agency instead labored tirelessly to ensure that I received this very prestigious assignment. Wish me luck!"

In September 2012 he posted a trio of 15-minute rants on YouTube in which accused the FBI of going after him and his mother and threatening to release identifying information on a certain officer.



In a plea bargain arranged last March the government agreed to drop most of the charges against Brown relating to his posting of the hyperlink. But the remaining charges stuck, and now he's off to prison until 2019 at the latest, although he'll be eligible for parole in a year.