A California man who hacked into the servers of Nintendo Co. Ltd. and stole proprietary information Friday pleaded guilty to federal crimes related to hacking as well as possession of child pornography.

Ryan S. Hernandez, 21, was arrested in June in relation to the crimes but only after hacking into Nintendo for a second time in 2018.

In a strange twist, Hernandez, then a minor, first hacked Nintendo in 2016 but was not arrested after giving a commitment to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation that he would stop any further malicious activity and that he understood the consequences of any future hacking.

Hernandez gained access to Nintendo by using simple phishing techniques, tricking employees into handing over company credentials to gain access to Nintendo’s corporate network.

Among the data Hernandez stole in his first round of hacking in 2016 was prerelease information on the Nintendo Switch console that he later leaked online. Having returned to hacking in 2018, Hernandez is then said to have stolen various popular video games, gaming consoles and developer tools.

Demonstrating that his activities were motivated by a chance at fame more than profit, Hernandez boasted about his hacking exploits on online and social media platforms including Twitter and Discord. In addition, he is said to have operated an online chat forum called “Ryan’s Underground Hangout” where he discussed and shared the information he had stolen as well as discussed possible Nintendo network vulnerabilities.

Hernandez pleaded guilty under a plea agreement agreed to by both prosecutors and defense attorneys that will see him serve three years in prison. However, the sentencing is ultimately up to the judge, who has the ability to sentence him to five years on the computer hacking charge and 20 years on the child pornography charge.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Hernandez has also agreed to pay $259,323 in restitution to Nintendo for his activities.

Photo: Nintendo