The 22-year-old Californian cuffed last October for hacking into T-Mobile's network has pleaded guilty to a single charge of "intentional access to a protected computer and recklessly causing damage".

Nicholas Lee Jacobsen accessed US Secret Service email, obtained customers' passwords and Social Security numbers, and downloaded candid photos taken by Sidekick users, including Hollywood celebrities, as we reported in January. His arrest came as part of the Operation Firewall crackdown on cybercrime which ended in the arrest of 28 suspects across eight states and in six foreign countries.

He will be sentenced on 16 May and faces a maximum five years' prison and a $250,000 fine.

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