Hacker pleads guilty to entering NASA computers

NEW YORK - 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 bargain, prosecutors will seek a prison term of eight to 14 months at sentencing March 7.

He could have faced 27 years in prison and been fined $950,000.

The two NASA computers, which help launch robotic spacecraft, were at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Torricelli also admitted hacking into a San Jose State University computer system in California to illegally gain access to other computer networks. He also said he stole more than 15 credit card numbers online.

NASA said security has been improved at the Pasadena laboratory.