BATON ROUGE - The Department of Justice reports a former systems administrator pleaded guilty to accusations that he hacked into the computer system of an industrial facility by which he was formerly employed.

44-year-old Brian Johnson, of Baton Rouge, pleaded guilty to intentionally damaging a protected computer. His sentencing is scheduled for May.

The Department of Justice says Johnson worked as an information technology specialist and systems administrator for a large manufacturing facility in Port Hudson, Louisiana. During his hearing, he admitted that on Feb. 27, several days after his employment was terminated, he remotely accessed the plant’s computer system and intentionally transmitted code and commands that results in significant damage to the plant’s operations.

Johnson’s sentence will depend on the amount of value the court is able to place on the damage done through the cyberattack.