Former Sacramento Web Producer Accused of Helping Hackers Loses Job

The former FOX40 web producer accused of helping Internet pranksters deface a Los Angeles Times article has lost his job a day before his scheduled court date, but for a different reason.

Matthew Keys was fired from the Sacramento TV station in October 2010 and two months later, federal authorities say he helped members of the hacker group "Anonymous" gain access to the servers of his former employer. He has denied those charges.

He went on to work for the Thompson Reuters news agency, but was fired Monday. He was quick to say he was never of a connection between the indictment and his firing.

"While my suspension was related to the indictment, it’s unclear if my firing had anything to do with it," Keys wrote on his blog. "The company mentioned the suspension several times, but they did not mention the case nor did they mention the indictment."

Keys was fired in part, his bosses reportedly told him, for tweeting information during the Boston Marathon bombing investigation that later turned out to be incorrect.

"Reuters said they particularly disagreed with my decision to continue tweeting scanner traffic after several other news organizations had reported a request from the Boston Police Department to not tweet information heard on scanner traffic," Keys wrote.

A spokesman with Keys' union told POLITICO the firing didn't appear to be justified, and that the union would be filing a grievance.

A criminal defense lawyer who has defended hackers told the Los Angeles Times that Keys might have been targeted by officials because he was an easy target.

"It was a prank," Jay Leiderman told the Times. "It really could have been handled civilly through a lawsuit."