(January 15, 2013) Federal Prosecutor Stephen Heymann Wanted 'Juicy' Case for Publicity--And Found it in Aaron Swartz, Says Lawyer

The prosecutor who went after Aaron Swartz was "difficult" to deal with, according to Swartz lawyer Elliot Peters.

Three days after internet activist Aaron Swartz killed himself, his lawyer is speaking out about the zealous prosecutor who pursued Swartz over the downloading of articles from an internet database at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Huffington Post reports today that Swartz's lawyer said that the prosecutor who went after Swartz, assistant U.S. attorney Stephen Heymann, was "very, very difficult to deal with."

The lawyer, Elliot Peters, added that Heymann wanted "some juicy looking computer crime cases and Aaron's case, sadly for Aaron, fit the bill...[Heymann believed that the Swartz case] was going to receive press and he was going to be a tough guy and read his name in the newspaper."

The lawyer's remarks to the Huffington Post come after other news outlets reported that a plea bargain Swartz was looking for fell through after Heymann said that "Mr.