David Kernell Verdict

David Kernell, the son of a prominent Tennessee Democrat, hacked into the Yahoo email of Sarah Palin after the press blabbed about the email address in the paper. The jury returned a guilty verdict on unlawful access to a computer, which is a misdemeanor. Plus a guilty verdict on the obstruction of justice charge. Not guilty on wire fraud and a mistrial on the identity theft crime. Seems if he didn’t try to lie about it and destroy evidence, he’d’ve gotten away with a slap on the wrist. The obstruction charge has a 20 year sentence, but he will likely do 5 years or less.

From WBIR here:

A federal jury has found former UT student David Kernell guilty of obstruction of justice and unauthorized access in the breach of Sarah Palin’s e-mail.

The case is a mistrial on count one, the charge of identity theft.

The jury found Kernell not guilty on count 2, the charge of wire fraud.

Unauthorized access is a misdemeanor lesser included charge from count three, which accused Kernell of felony unlawful computer access.

The jury found Kernell guilty of obstruction of justice. That carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, with a fine up to $250,000.

The jury was to decide Kernell’s innocence or guilt; the judge will decide sentencing.

Charges, possible sentence
•Count three: unlawful computer access
Maximum 5 years in prison
$250,000 fine
3 years supervised release
Lesser included misdemeanor offense on count 3 carries a maximum of 1 year in prison
•Count four: obstruction of justice
Maximum 20 years in prison
$250,000 fine
5 years supervised release

Seems fair. I wonder if the Palins should sue the Kernells in civil court for the trouble they had to go through dealing with this? And as a lesson to everyone: Use good strong passwords on your accounts.