Scarlett Johansson, Mila Kunis hacker to plead guilty in "Operation Hackerazzi" case

(CBS/AP) The Florida man accused of hacking into the email accounts of Hollywood starlets has agreed to plead guilty on Monday in Los Angeles federal court.

Christina Aguilera, Mila Kunis and Scarlett Johansson are among the stars whose nude photos eventually landed on the Internet as a result of the hacking.

According to court documents, Christopher Chaney, 35, of Jacksonville, Fla., is expected to plead guilty to nine felony counts, including unauthorized access to a computer and wiretapping. He faces up to 60 years in prison, but federal sentencing guidelines often call for less time behind bars.

Chaney was arrested in October as part of a yearlong investigation of celebrity hacking that authorities dubbed "Operation Hackerazzi."

Prosecutors said Chaney hacked into the email accounts of more than 50 people in the entertainment industry, including Aguilera and Johansson. Nude photosthat Johansson had taken of herself were later posted on the Internet. Aguilera also had private photos put online, court documents show.

Johansson told Vanity Fair for its December issue that the photos were meant for Ryan Reynolds, who is now her ex-husband. Chaney mined through publicly available data to figure out password and security questions for celebrity accounts. He hijacked a forwarding feature so that a copy of every email a celebrity received was sent to an account he controlled, according to court documents.

Chaney said he managed to hack into Johansson's email account to send one of her acquaintances an email containing a nude photo of her in exchange for a photo, authorities said.

Chaney forwarded many of the photographs to two gossip websites and another hacker, but there wasn't any evidence that he profited from his scheme, authorities said. He has since apologized for his actions.