Hacker charged in Scientology site attacks

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Federal authorities in Los Angeles say they have charged a New Jersey teenager in a January cyberattack that crashed Church of Scientology Web sites.

Dmitriy Guzner, 18, Verona, N.J., was charged Friday and had already agreed to plead guilty in connection with the distributed denial of service attack that swamped the Scientology sites, the U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles said in a written statement.

Prosecutors said Guzner had considered himself to be part of "Anonymous," an underground group that has led recent protests against Scientology.

Guzner was tracked down by a federal cybercrimes task force and is expected to formally plead guilty in a New Jersey federal court in the coming weeks. He could be sentenced to 10 years in prison.