People forget that Robert Morris of Y Combinator was a convicted felon, in fact the first under CFAA IIRC (not that I believe his intent was nefarious at the time). He’s fine now.

He’s owned it though. Did his probation and community service.

Many, maybe most of us did stupid things, it’s part of a hacker youth. Owning it, admitting it, that’s a big part of building trust and proving to others that you’ve grown and changed.