I figure it's along the same lines of being a sex worker or something like that. I would gladly be one if it weren't for the fact that I (probably) wouldn't be able to work in tech and would have to live with social stigma attached.

Same goes for cyber-crime. I want to be on the good side of cyber, and I can't do that if I'm a criminal. I also don't want to live my whole life looking over my shoulder over fear of something I did in the past. This happened to malwaretech and they're not even sure he actually committed the crime.