Prosecutors: Man To Plead Guilty To Hacking Al-Jazeera SiteProsecutors: Man To Plead Guilty To Hacking Al-Jazeera Site

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An American Web designer has agreed to plead guilty to intercepting E-mail and content from Arab TV station Al-Jazeera's Internet site and rerouting it to a "Let Freedom Ring" patriotic page he devised, prosecutors said.

John William Racine II, 24, of Norco, Calif., will plead guilty to felony charges of wire fraud and unlawful interception of an electronic communication, prosecutors said Thursday. He will be arraigned Monday in federal court in Los Angeles.

Racine allegedly acted after learning in March that Al-Jazeera had posted on its Web site photos of American POWs and soldiers killed in Iraq, according to the plea agreement.

Racine's attorney, Richard J. Leedy, did not return a call seeking comment. There was no listing for Racine in Norco.

In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the technology manager at Al-Jazeera welcomed the charges but said the hacking of the Internet site was a costly operation that could not have involved just one person. Aljazeera.net was subject to several attacks during March, including one in which visitors were redirected to a pornography site.

"It is not difficult for one person to have the brain to do this, but the financial capabilities needed for the hacking are hard to find with one person," Salah Siddiki said.

U.S. officials have criticized Al-Jazeera over its coverage of the war in Iraq and for airing statements by top officials from Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist group. The independent station also has angered Arab leaders for speaking out against them and their policies.

Authorities suspect Racine acted alone and used information from the Internet and forged documents to have the Web site's password changed. That provided unhindered access to the site and blocked access by its legitimate administrators, the plea agreement states.

Web traffic from Al-Jazeera's site was redirected by Racine for about three days ending March 27, and about 300 E-mails were hijacked, prosecutors said.

Racine phoned the FBI, told them about the hack and cooperated with the investigation, according to the plea agreement.

In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors intend to recommend a sentence of three years probation, 1,000 hours of community service, a $1,500, fine and full restitution to the victims.

The maximum sentence for the charges is 25 years in prison and a fine of $500,000.