I find this very hard to believe (the last part). With any confiscation, you can argue in court. 1 year without a computer was his fault. I'd slap that agency with a lawsuit.
He had a habit of rubbing people up the wrong way, bragging about being having 'leet' computer skills (he didn't) and doing idiotic things like mass net sends at school so I'm sure it was in many ways his fault. Does show how paranoid the police can be about "hackers" though.