Palin email hacker imprisoned against judge's wishes

In April 23-year-old former University of Tennessee student David Kernell was convicted of hacking into former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s e-mail account during the 2008 US presidential election, in which she was running for vice president. Now, Kernell has begun serving a 1-year sentence in a Kentucky federal prison camp, despite the judge’s recommendation during the November sentencing that he serve the term in a halfway house instead.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prison (BOP) records, Kernell reported to the Ashland Federal Correctional Institution in Kentucky, a minimum security facility, on the 10th of January to begin serving his sentence.

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Kernell was only 20 years-old, and an Economics major at the time he committed the crime. He hacked past the security questions on Palin’s email account by providing her birthdate and zip code, and then changed her password. He then posted photos, documents, and Palin’s contact list to popular message board 4Chan.

Kernell’s lawyers had requested that he be given probation instead of a prison sentence, chalking their client’s actions up to "an unplanned episode of misconduct."  Federal Judge Thomas W. Phillips rejected the prosecution’s defense for an 18-month prison sentence, and instead ruled in favor of the 1-year sentence with a recommendation that the time be served in Midway Rehabilitative Center on Magnolia Avenue in Knoxville, close to Kernell’s school residence. The judge also ordered that Kernell seek mental health treatment. In the end, Kernell was convicted on two counts of destroying records and unlawful access to a computer.

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So how, then, did Kernell end up in prison against the judges wishes?

"It's only a recommendation," Edmond Ross, spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, told SCMagazineUS.com on Friday. "Judges don't have the authority to place an inmate in any particular location." Ross stated that he couldn’t say exactly what was behind the decision, but that it depended upon “security designation”.

While Kernell is in prison he will likely be assigned a job, and will have a number of recreational activities in which to participate. He is allowed to have visitors in the unfenced, “dormitory-like housing”, and could be released as early as November 23rd if he stays out of trouble.

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To me, Kernell’s sentence seems a bit harsh. Yes, hacking into Palin’s account and stealing private information is a serious offense, but I doubt that Kernell even realized that prison could be an outcome. Could it be that the Bureau of Prisons was trying to make an example out of Kernell? There is also the possibility that authorities thought he might be in danger of political persecution without more intense supervision. Unfortunately, the one thing that is certain is that this young man will now have a prison record to carry around with him the rest of his life.

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