David Kernell: INDICTED

UPDATE, November 14, 2008: Student's trial delayed in Palin hacking case
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I will bet when David Kernell allegedly hacked into the personal e-mail account of Gov. Sarah Palin, he never expected to be "shackled and handcufffed."

Well, stuff happens.

From WBIR, Knoxville:

A University of Tennessee student has been indicted for illegally accessing the personal e-mail of vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

It alleges David Kernell, 20, used Yahoo's password recovery tool to gain access to Sarah Palin's e-mail, by answering questions with information available to the public with some research.

David Kernell is set for trial December 16. He has entered a plea of not guilty.

Kernell turned himself in at court Wednesday morning. The indictment was returned Tuesday and unsealed Wednesday.

When he arrived at court, he was shackled and handcufffed.

The conditions for his release contain more than a dozen provisions, including:

--cannot leave the Eastern District of Tennessee without court permission. Kernell's family lives in Memphis.
--cannot possess a computer.
--can access e-mail and can only access internet for class work.
--must not have any contact with Gov. Sarah Palin or her family.

The indictment alleges he reset the account's password and read Palin's e-mail, then posted screenshots and the password to a public message board.

Kernell could face five years in prison and fines up to $250,000 if convicted.

He is the son of Democratic Rep. Mike Kernell of Memphis. Friends have described Kernell as politically interested but not active. No UT student political organization has claimed him as a member.

Here's more, from FOX News:

A Democratic state representative's son has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Tennessee for intentionally hacking into Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's personal e-mail account.

David C. Kernell, 20, was charged with one count of breaking into the Republican vice presidential nominee's personal Yahoo e-mail account. Kernell, an economics student at the University of Tennessee, is the son of state Rep. Michael Kernell of Memphis.

...According to the indictment, Kernell, who used the nicknames "rubico" and "rubico 10" on the Internet, allegedly reset Palin's e-mail password to "popcorn" using Yahoo's password-recovery tool on Sept. 16 by "researching and correctly answering a series of personal security questions."

After changing the password, the indictment alleges he made screenshots of her e-mail directory, e-mail messages and other personal information before posting them to a public Web site. He also posted the reset password.

Kernell was able to obtain the personal e-mail addresses of Palin's family members, pictures of her family, her birth date and at least one family member's cell phone number. He also had access to her address book.

The indictment alleges that after posting Palin's personal information online, Kernell "removed, altered, concealed and covered up files on his laptop computer" to throw off a possible investigation.

Investigators were able to track Kernell down by tracing the hack to his Knoxville apartment through an Internet proxy site.

The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee and investigated by the FBI's Anchorage and Knoxville field offices.

How are those conditions of release going to be enforced?

Who is going to make sure Kernell doesn't possess a computer?

Who is going to monitor that Kernell is not going beyond his e-mail and only accessing the Internet for class work?

Judge C. Clifford Shirley restricted Kernell from discussing the case with any potential witnesses, which include his roommates.

Kernell was also restricted from having any contact directly or indirectly with the Alaska governor or her family.

Shirley warned that if Kernell violated any part of his release conditions, he would be held until the trial.

Supposedly, if Kernell violates any of the conditions, he'll be jailed until trial.

If I were to guess, I think he will violate the conditions and he'll lie about it. He's shown he will lie and cannot be trusted.

Will the FBI be monitoring his Internet use?

Will the FBI be reading his e-mail to make sure that he isn't communicating with his roommates or other potential witnesses?

There has to be some monitoring or there's no way to assure that Kernell isn't in violation of the release conditions.

What does it mean that Kernell is restricted from having any direct or indirect contact with Gov. Palin and her family?

Does that mean he can't watch Palin on the news?

Does watching Tina Fey on SNL count as indirect contact with Palin?

While my sympathies are first and foremost with Sarah Palin and every person whose privacy was violated as a result of her e-mail account being hacked, I do feel sorry for Kernell's family. That's assuming Kernell's father, DEMOCRAT Tennessee state lawmaker Mike Kernell, and his mother don't approve of their son's alleged crimes.

I hope David Kernell's parents aren't just disturbed that he got caught. I hope they're disturbed that their son allegedly invaded the privacy of the Republican nominee for president of the United States.

David Kernell not only allegedly victimized Sarah Palin and everyone linked to her e-mail account; he also has done tremendous harm to his parents.
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Read the indictment.
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NEWS RELEASE:

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- David C. Kernell, 20, was
indicted by a federal grand jury in Knoxville, Tenn., for intentionallym accessing without authorization the e-mail account of Alaska governor Sarah Palin, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney James R. Dedrick for the Eastern District of Tennessee announced today. Kernell turned himself into federal authorities for arrest and will be arraigned today before U.S. Magistrate Judge C. Clifford Shirley.

The single count indictment, returned on Oct. 7, 2008, and unsealed today, alleges that on approximately Sept. 16, 2008, Kernell, a resident of Knoxville, obtained unauthorized access to Gov. Palin's personal e-mail account by allegedly resetting the account password. According to the indictment, after answering a series of security questions that allowed him to reset the password and gain access to the e-mail account, Kernell allegedly read the contents of the account and made screenshots of the e-mail directory, e-mail content and other personal information. According to the indictment, Kernell posted screenshots of the e-mails and other
personal information to a public Web site. Kernell also allegedly posted the new e-mail account password that he had created, thus providing access to the account by others.

If convicted of the charge, the defendant faces a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a three year term of supervised release. A trial date has not been set.

The case is being prosecuted by Section Chief Michael DuBose and Trial Attorney Mark Krotoski of the Criminal Division's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Weddle of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee. The case is being investigated by the FBI's Anchorage and Knoxville field offices.

An indictment is merely an allegation. Defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.


SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice