Sarah Palin Email Hack - Trial Verdict

Trial Verdict

On April 30, 2010, David Kernell was found guilty on two of four counts: the felony of anticipatory obstruction of justice by destruction of records and a misdemeanor of unauthorized access to a computer. The jury acquitted him of the charge of wire fraud and was deadlocked on the charge of identity theft. In response, Palin issued a press release comparing the case to Watergate.

Prosecutors promised a retrial on the identity theft charge if Kernell was successful in his attempt at receiving a new trial. In November 2010 he was sentenced to one year and one day of prison, and three years of probation. The judge recommended that the sentence be served in a halfway house rather than in a federal prison. However, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which makes the ultimate determination as to where federal prisoners serve their sentence, assigned Kernell to the minimum security prison at the Federal Correctional Institution, Ashland near Ashland, Kentucky. Jose Santana, the chief of the BOP, said that halfway houses are for convicts who have limited skills and/or limited support from their families. Because Kernell had the support of his family and had attended a university for three years, Santana argued that he does not need to be in a halfway house. Kernell was later relocated to a halfway house.