On September 21, 2000, he entered into an agreement with U.S. Attorney Guy Lewis: he would plead guilty to two counts of juvenile delinquency in exchange for a lenient sentence.
[1] James was sentenced to seven months house arrest and probation until the age of eighteen and was required to write letters of apology to NASA and the Department of Defense.
[6] James later violated that probation when he tested positive for drug use and was then subsequently taken into custody by the United States Marshals Service and flown to an Alabama federal correctional facility where he ultimately served six months.
[10] On January 17, 2008, department store chain TJX was the victim of a massive computer systems intrusion that compromised the personal and credit information of millions of customers.
The same ring of hackers also committed intrusions on BJ's Wholesale Club, Boston Market, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority, Forever 21, DSW, OfficeMax, and Dave & Buster's, and reportedly made a millionaire out of the group's ringleader, Albert Gonzalez.
[3] However, it is plausible that the initials "J.J." may in fact have been referring to "Jim Jones", a hacker alias believed to be used by Stephen Watt, who was a close friend of Gonzalez.