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It could also be that they're former "hackers" that were caught and turned into informants/employees/slaves in exchange for their eventual freedom. An example of this is Sabu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabu_%28hacktivist%29), who would have been sentenced to 124 years in prison, but instead decided to work for the FBI.

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Sabu, for example, would almost certainly not be granted a clearance, even at the classified (lowest) level.

If you have immense personal leverage over someone, you can dispense with the bureaucratic paper pushing. They won't step out of line.

How can he be an asset for the FBI then?

Fairly easily, I should think; since when does any police agency entrust its secrets to its confidential informants?

< who would have been sentenced to 124 years in prison

This is a number floated as possible years of time, but it is not what he 'would have been' sentenced. We don't know because he decided to turn snitch.

...it's particularly misleading because you could be sentenced for 124 years for a several dozen different offenses but serve your time concurrently.

Correct, it is several flavors of misleading. I did not even consider that one.

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