Palin Hacker Asks Judge For Prison Pass

OCTOBER 27--Facing a possible prison term for hacking into Sarah Palin’s e-mail account, a Tennessee man instead wants a federal judge to sentence him to probation since the electronic incursion was an “aberration from his normal course of conduct” and the felony case has left him publicly humiliated.

David Kernell, 22, also contends that his “youth and emotional condition” supports his petition for a downward departure from sentencing guidelines that carry a range of 15 to 21 months in custody. Kernell made his probation request in a filing yesterday in U.S. District Court in Knoxville. A related submission was filed under seal since it contained “protected health information from treatment when Mr. Kernell was a juvenile.”

In a sentencing memorandum filed this afternoon, federal prosecutors asked Judge Thomas Phillips to sentence Kernell to 18 months in prison, charging that his motive was to “derail a national campaign” by searching for incriminating information about the Republican vice presidential candidate.

The former University of Tennessee student, who was convicted at trial on two felony counts, is scheduled to be sentenced on November 12. Kernell hacked into Palin’s Yahoo e-mail in September 2008 and posted photos and screenshots from the politician’s account (he also boasted about the hack in a detailed online post on the 4chan message board).

Kernell’s motion notes that “general deterrence” has been achieved as a result of his conviction “by educating the public that accessing another’s email account is conduct that violates federal law.”

Palin and her daughter Bristol both testified for the prosecution at Kernell’s trial. It is unknown whether either woman would seek to submit a victim’s impact statement in advance of the sentencing of Kernell, who is pictured in the above mug shot. (4 pages)