Hacker-Turned-FBI Informant "Sabu" Ditches Manhattan Court Appearance, Remains In Hiding

The hacker-turned-informant whose undercover work resulted last week in criminal charges against several of his alleged “Anonymous” cohorts remained in hiding today, avoiding an appearance in a New York courthouse to answer a misdemeanor criminal charge.

When Hector Monsegur’s case was called this morning at Manhattan Criminal Court, the 28-year-old snitch was nowhere to be found. Instead, his lawyer approached the bench for an off-the-record conversation with Judge Erika McDaniel Edwards and an assistant district attorney.

At the parley's conclusion, the jurist announced that, due to “extraordinary circumstances,” Monsegur’s case was being adjourned for an arraignment next month. Outside the courtroom, Peggy Cross-Goldenberg, Monsegur’s lawyer, declined to discuss what transpired at the bench, and politely deflected other TSG questions about her client, including whether he was currently under protection by federal officials.

Last month, during the course of his vigorous cooperation with agents, Monsegur--who is known online as “Sabu”--was arrested by the NYPD outside his apartment building in the Jacob Riis housing project on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. According to a criminal complaint, when a cop asked him for ID, Monsegur reportedly said, “Relax. I’m a federal agent. I am an agent of the federal government.”

Monsegur--a federal informant, not a federal agent--was subsequently busted on a misdemeanor criminal impersonation charge.