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NorCal Social Media Journalist Gets Prison Time For LA Times Website Hack

SACRAMENTO (AP/CBS SF) -- A well-known Northern California social media journalist has been sentenced to two years in federal prison 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 was simply a disgruntled employee striking back at his former employer.

U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller sentenced him Wednesday after 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.

TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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