Computer hacker-turned-informant on the lam again

Web posted December 1, 1998

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- Computer hacker-turned-government informant Justin Petersen, who claims he helped put superhacker Kevin Mitnick in jail, is on the run himself.

The flamboyant, long-haired, one-legged hacker known to computer outlaws as ``Agent Steal'' is accused of skipping out on his probation in September. Federal marshals have a warrant for his arrest.

In a letter posted on his now-defunct Web site, Petersen claims to have found an unspecified job overseas, but is thinking about coming home to surrender.

``I am still considering simply turning myself in and getting it over with,'' he wrote. ``Regardless, if I happen to get apprehended, it will be of little concern to me.''

The letter appeared after the Daily News of Los Angeles left a message on his telephone answering machine, which simply notifies callers ``I'm gone, baby,'' the paper reported Monday.

Petersen, 38, a native of Lincoln, Neb., was known to hang out at Sunset Strip clubs, he wore his hair rock-star long and made the rounds with attractive women, even after a motorcycle accident cost him his left leg below the knee.

He said he's still living the good life.

``Alas, rest assured I am somewhere having fun with a nice-looking lady, enjoying the first freedom I have felt in some time,'' he wrote.

He was on probation after pleading guilty in 1993 to federal crimes committed in California and Texas, including credit card fraud that involved stealing data from a credit information firm.

He also admitted to helping other hackers rig a radio station promotion by seizing control of telephone lines so they could be the winning callers. However, under a plea agreement, he remained out of prison while helping the government in an ``undercover capacity,'' as one court document put it.

Petersen claimed the FBI paid his rent and flew him to computer conferences to spy on other hackers. He also says he helped show Mitnick was committing offenses while on probation for previous computer crimes. Mitnick faces trial in Los Angeles in January.

Mitnick is the only hacker to make the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. He was arrested in 1995, accused of stealing 20,000 credit card numbers.

Prosecutors say that Petersen got into Glendale-based Heller Financial Inc. computers and paid himself $150,000, phoning in two bomb threats to make sure wire transfer officers were away from their desks during his hacking sprees.

Court records show that Petersen was accused this summer of violating four tenets of his release agreement, which ordered him to pay $40,000 and stay away from computers except at work.

``I had a personality conflict with my parole office and could not come to terms,'' he wrote in his Web site letter.

His parole officer wanted him to take a full-time job to repay the $40,000, and ``for me that is physically impossible,'' he wrote, adding that he could face six to eight months in jail if he surrenders or is caught.