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Journalist To Be Sentenced In LA Times Hacking Case

UPDATE: A judge has sentenced Matthew Keys to 24 months in prison.

Previous story below:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A well-known social media journalist is set for sentencing Wednesday after he was convicted of conspiring with the hacking group Anonymous to break into the Los Angeles Times' website and alter a story.

Federal prosecutors in Sacramento say despite his role in the news media, 29-year-old Matthew Keys of Vacaville, California, was simply a disgruntled employee striking back at his former employer.

He was convicted of providing login credentials to The Tribune Co.'s computer system.

The company owns the Los Angeles Times and FOX affiliate KTXL-TV in Sacramento, where Keys worked until he was fired two months before the 2010 hacking.

When charges were filed in 2013, he was fired from his then-employer, the Reuters news agency.

His attorneys call the hacking a relatively harmless prank.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.

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