Hacker gets one year for tapping judge's e-mail
Source: SNP
A Baldwin Township man who was convicted of hacking into the e-mail of the Allegheny County judge handling his divorce was sentenced Friday in federal court to one year and one day in prison. Chief U.S. District Judge Donetta W. Ambrose ordered Brian T. Ferguson, 43, immediately taken into custody and called him "a prime candidate for mental health counseling." Ferguson, of Dewalt Drive, was convicted on three counts of hacking into the America Online e-mail account of Common Pleas Judge Kim D. Eaton. Ambrose said Ferguson's computer use should be restricted or monitored during his five years of supervised release after prison. Eaton testified in January that Ferguson appeared before her in April 2002 and handed her several e-mail messages she had written to friends and relatives. The messages contained personal information about her children's activities, and Ferguson's remarks led Eaton to believe he was threatening her. She testified that she feared for her safety and that of her children.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Hull said the offenses involved invasion of privacy and revenge against an officer of the court. Hull said Ferguson, who tried unsuccessfully to fire his fourth attorney in the case, was "unrepentant" and tried to blame others for the offenses. Hull also said Ferguson, who formerly worked as a computer administrator at a Robinson Township firm, was self-taught in computers and had skills in networking and with password-cracking software. In a rambling statement before sentencing, Ferguson denied that he had hacked into Eaton's e-mail, saying he doesn't have the computer skills to do it. "It's unclear to me who did this crime, but I didn't do it," said Ferguson, who said he was followed by government agents. "Why follow me? What did I do to become a person of interest? I'm not the guilty one." Ferguson said the government's interest in him stemmed from an employment application he filled out years ago to work for the National Security Agency.
