After pleading guilty to federal charges in November for hacking into NASA computers, Jason Allen Diekman of Mission Viejo, Calif., was arrested a second time this morning on federal wire charges.

Diekman was taken into custody at his home by special agents representing the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance on wire fraud charges this afternoon in United States District Court in Los Angeles.

According to the criminal complaint, Diekman's associates attempted to make three wire transfers through Western Union to Jason Diekman of Orange County. The issuing credit card company authorized only one of the three transfers, which was blocked by Western Union security. Diekman was later identified as one of the callers.

According to the attorney prosecuting today's case and Diekman's prior hacking case, in 1998, Diekman hacked into Stanford University NASA computers, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and other government and university computer systems.

Know as "Shadow Knight," and "Dark Lord," Diekman caused more than $17,000 in damages to the systems he hacked into by modifying files and altering security systems.

Diekman has admitted that he hacked into "hundreds, maybe thousands" of computers during 1998, including networks belonging to Harvard, Cornell, Stanford, and University of California campuses in Los Angeles and San Diego.

Diekman is scheduled for sentencing in the NASA hacking case on May 14. He faces a maximum penalty of 16 years in federal prison.

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