In the projects of the Lower East Side of Manhattan, a man whom many would later identify as the ringleader of the hacker’s group called Anonymous, sat at his Ethernet-connected computer, furiously clacking away. “Sabu,” as he was known by other hackers, had no college education, two children to feed, and a head chocked-full of mischievous computer tactics. But on June 7, 2011 his empire came crashing down as his modest digs were raided by FBI agents who have been on to him for some time, according to reports by Fox News.

“Sabu” is actually 28 year old, Hector Xavier Monsegur. Monsegur’s fate was sealed after he forgot to obscure his IP address and the FBI could not have gotten a luckier break. Anonymous, which many claim is a sect of another major hacking operation, Lulz, was responsible for breaking into the U.S. Senate, was the operation behind the Stratfor scandal, was responsible for 60,000 stolen credit cards and $700,000 in potential charges, and claimed over 1 million victims.

The FBI is known for transitioning the bad guy into the informant, and for the most part, the bureau has found this method successful in tracking gang activities, as well as drug and human trafficking. But this is the first time in history that the FBI has made an informant out of a hacker. And Monsegur has proven to be a very efficient informant.

Despite the pleas from Monsegur’s 45,000 Twitter followers to stay strong, Monsegur has assisted the FBI in the arrests of hackers across the globe. Among the most notorious of hackers are: 27-year-old Jeremy Hannon from Chicago; Ryan Ackroyd, 25, of Doncaster, England; Jake Davis, 19, of Lerwick, Scotland; Darren Martyn, 25, of Galway, Ireland, and Donncha O'Cearrbhail, 19, of Birr, Ireland, according to Yahoo news.

In exchange for his cooperation, Monsegur is free on $500,000 bail. How will he foot the bill is anyone’s guess. But one thing that is almost certain is that it will not be from the illegally obtained credit cards.