"He somehow manages to get caught or busted for something and is scared beyond belief about the consequences of his actions.  At this point, the law enforcement agency(s) realize that this one bust alone is worthless, especially since the person busted is probably someone who does not know much to begin with and would be a
much better asset if he could assist them in grabbing other more experienced
and dangerous hackers and phreaks."
http://phrack.org/issues/22/3.html

https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/111/081/334/399/545/081/original/ec8da15bb96f14a8.png