CLEVELAND, Ohio — An Akron man who was aligned with the online hacking collective Anonymous pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to launching cyberattacks on the websites of several government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense and the city of Akron. 

James Robinson admitted during a hearing that he carried out “denial of service” attacks, which overwhelm websites with internet traffic and essentially shuts it down, between July 2017 and May of last year, on dozens of targets both in the U.S. and around the world. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Om Kakani said those included attacks on the websites for the Ohio Department of Public Safety, the National Institutes of Health, the Defense Information Systems Agency, NATO and the Department of the Treasury, as well as the Defense Department and the city of Akron. 

Prosecutors have said the attacks, which Robinson carried out from his cellphone, left the websites inaccessible to the public and other users for stretches of time. 

The FBI in May linked Robinson, 33, to Anonymous, which has become known for the type of cyberattacks he carried out prior to his arrest.  While an attorney previously said he earned money doing buffing at a factory across the street from where he lived, Robinson was better known online under the moniker “Akron Phoenix 420." 

In addition to pleading guilty to a damaging protected computers charge, Robinson agreed as part of a deal with federal prosecutors to cooperate in other cases, which could lead to a reduced prison sentence. 

If he does, he is looking at a possible sentence of between about three and six years in federal prison, attorney Brian Pierce said after the hearing.  The wide range of sentences is because both sides are set to argue the monetary value of the damage and losses Robinson created through his cyberattacks.  That number will affect a sentencing recommendation called for in Robinson’s plea agreement. 

U.S. District Judge Christopher Boyko will sentence Robinson on July 1. 

On Aug. 1, 2017, a Twitter account named @AkronPhoenix420 took credit for the attacks on the websites akronohio.gov and akroncops.gov and linked to a video called OpEXPOSED AKRON PD."  Robinson admitted the Twitter account was his, prosecutors said. 

The video contained an image of someone in a Guy Fawkes mask that said, among other things, that “it’s time we teach the law a lesson,” “Akron PD abuses the law” and “this week the city of Akron experienced system failures on multiple domains including their emergency TCP ports,” the FBI said last year. 

The Twitter account also took credit on April 25 for another attack on Akron’s website, as well as the other attacks to which he pleaded guilty, authorities said. 

Kakani said at a hearing in May that Robinson’s attacks prevented Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers from accessing a law enforcement database for at least four hours during some attacks. 

“Anyone that needed the assistance of the Ohio State Patrol or any Ohio State Patrol Officers that were responding to incidents or just doing their jobs were placed in danger as a result of these attacks, which he was able to carry out through the use of his phone, your Honor,” Kakani said at the hearing, according to a transcript. 

Troopers use the database to conduct background checks and run vehicle plates during traffic stops.  It also affected the Highway Patrol’s radio and telephone systems, Kakani said. 

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