Anonymous hacker Jeremy Hammond pleads guilty to Stratfor breach (VIDEO)

Hacker and activist Jeremy Hammond pleaded guilty Tuesday morning in a New York courtroom to violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act as a member of the Internet collective known as Anonymous. Hammond, 28, was arrested last March and charged with hacking into the computers of Strategic Forecasting Inc., or Stratfor, a global intelligence company based out of Austin, Texas.

He has been held in jail for nearly 15 months since being apprehended and faced a potential life sentence if convicted by a jury.

After spending more than a year behind bars with weeks spent in solitary confinement, Hammond pleaded guilty early Tuesday for his role in the Stratfor hack as well as eight other computer network intrusions.

RT's Lori Harfenist at the courthouse and reports back.