Christie also said he doubts that U.S. prosecutors would consider trying McKinnon in European courts. "Extradition seems imminent," he added.

In New Jersey, the government contends that McKinnon first hacked into the computer network at Naval Weapons Station Earle in Colts Neck, on April 7, 2001. The intrusion wasn't discovered until late in September, when McKinnon allegedly deleted computer files that were needed to power up computers on the network. The government charges that in the five months that McKinnon allegedly was in and out of the system, he installed remote access software to make it easier for him to get into the network. He also allegedly stole about 950 passwords and deleted computer logs and files.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Erez Liebermann, who now is the lead prosecutor on the case, said McKinnon allegedly caused $290,431 in financial damages to the weapons station that is focused on replenishing munitions and supplies to the Atlantic fleet.

In Virginia, McKinnon is facing seven counts of unauthorized access. There, the U.S. attorney's office claims he caused $900,000 in damages to computers in 14 states. He allegedly broke into systems of the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force, the Pentagon and NASA.

Liebermann noted that each of the eight charges carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. However, based on sentencing guidelines, Christie estimates that the sentences would drop down to the three-to-five-year range.

Jeremy Kirk of the IDG New Service contributed to this story.