By most accounts, local Anonymous hacktivist Barrett Brown has a loving mother. In its detailed profile of Brown from a few years ago, D Magazine reported that Karen McCutchin had paid to get the carpet in his messy Uptown apartment shampooed before reporters visited.
And before FBI agents raided McCutchin's home last March with a search warrant, she hid her son's laptops in a kitchen cabinet. But while that last one might seem like another nice parent thing to do, prosecutors say that it counts as "obstructing the execution of a search warrant."
After pleading guilty to the charges in March, McCutchin was sentenced to probation today.
She had faced a maximum sentence of 12 months in prison and a $100,000 fine for the charges. At her sentencing today, McCutchin reportedly apologized in court for letting her "maternal instinct" cloud her judgement.
After his mother was first charged, Brown had posted a clip to YouTube in which he spoke about retaliating against FBI Agent Robert Smith. In response, FBI agents raided Brown's apartment and arrested him. He is now facing three separate indictments, including one for allegedly threatening a federal agent.
