Agents confiscated computer equipment from Robert Lyttle, previously convicted of defacing dozens of sites under the moniker Pimpshiz, in California on Monday, in connection with the Deceptive Duo case. The bureau also took equipment from The-Rev, a former member of the hacking group Sm0ked Crew, in Florida on Sunday, said a friend of the two hackers.

"They knew that they were going to get caught," said Kelly Hallissey, a Las Vegas resident who bills herself as an "online mom" to several hackers, including the two suspects. She worried that the teenagers would be made an example under new laws passed as part of the U.S.A. Patriot Act and maintains that they truly thought they were helping.

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