KNOXVILLE (WATE) - A federal appeals court on Monday affirmed the conviction and sentence of a former University of Tennessee student who hacked the private email account of former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.
David Kernell, the son of longtime state Rep. Mike Kernell (D-Memphis), was convicted in April 2010 of obstruction of justice for hacking into Palin's email in September 2008 while she was campaigning with Sen. John McCain.
Kernell admitted to his act online and removed much of the evidence from his computer.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed with Kernell's argument claiming there wasn't enough evidence to support his conviction.
"Kernell expressly states that he deleted the information on his computer out of a fear that the FBI would find it, plainly showing that he took his actions with the intent to hinder an investigation," the court opinion says.
Kernel was charged with four felonies. However, a federal jury in Knoxville acquitted him on one charge, deadlocked on another and convicted him on a lesser misdemeanor illegal access charge and on the obstruction charge.
Kernell was sentenced to a year and a day in a halfway house, but the U.S. Bureau of Prisons sent him to a work camp instead. He finished his sentence and was released in fall 2011.
