N.Y. hacker pleads guilty in hit on NASA computers

NEW YORK (AP) — A 20-year-old hacker pleaded guilty to breaking into computers at a NASA lab that launches unmanned space exploration missions.

Raymond Torricelli of New Rochelle said he hacked into two NASA computers in 1998 to steal user names and passwords and gain access to other systems. He also said he set up a chat room to send people to a pornography site that paid him 18 cents for each customer he referred.

"As a hacker, I never maliciously intended to damage the computers that I entered," he said.

Under the plea agreement, prosecutors will seek a prison term of eight to 14 months at sentencing March 7.