NASA hacker will plead guilty in the UK
Not in the US
Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 12:23
HAPLESS HACKER Gary McKinnon has told UK prosecutors he will plead guilty to some charges in the UK if he does not have to be extradited to a prison in the US.
US prosecutors claim that McKinnon is "the biggest military hacker of all time" although he claims he was just looking for proof of little green men.
His brief, Karen Todner, sent a letter to Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, to say McKinnon would plead guilty if tried in the UK under the Computer Misuse Act.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is apparently thinking about it. McKinnon already has support from 80 MPs - including Scottish Prime minister Gordon Brown - for repatriation should he be tried and found guilty in the US. µ
Share this:
Share
Advertisement
Subscribe to the INQ Newsletter
Sign-up for the INQBot weekly newsletter
INQ Whitepapers
Business Intelligence Software
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Enterprise Accounting Software
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
Enterprise Systems Management
Jobs
Advertisement
INQ Poll
"US prosecutors claim that McKinnon is "the biggest military hacker of all time""
YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE GREEN MEN (AKA G-MEN)
McKinnon should do time in a USA prison for his crimes against the USA.
While I'm sure the UK justice system has it's own faults at least it's not likely to be a political witch trial as it most surely will be in the u.s.
I suspect that in the US he would spend a couple of years in prison for the lesser charges with the sentence suspended for the serious charges, has he attempted such a plea in the US? His plea in the UK would probably result in similar time behind bars minus the probation, because I doubt the UK wants to be a safe haven for international cyber criminals.
A EU citizen has to plead guilty to get a trial in the EU? And why are EU citizens in danger of being extradited into a country that is guily of using torture and that still has the death penalty on the book? How about extradition into Iran? The last time I checked, the UK was still a member of the EU, And just in case, for the rednecks out there, my passport says European Union.
If the UK justice system has a bit of dignity left, they will take the opportunity. I would also see that as an opportunity for the new US administration.
Besides the legal implications for EU citizens, IMHO this guy needs medical care, not prison.
The UK is also guilty of torturing terrorists and the death penalty has nothing to do with this case. I suspect that if he agrees to serve actual jail time in the UK in excess of one year, not just probation, the US will probably not try to fight the plea. I imagine the US simply wants international cyber criminals targeting its military systems to serve some sort of sentence beyond community service.
why the need to point out gordon brown is scottish, would we be doing quite the same if he was from england? somewhat smacks me as being more than just a tiny bit racist
Get some publicity going, find a good hungry lawyer who wants to make a name for himself. And maybe with all the hoohar it can be laughed out of court.
If they can focus on some IT guy with a crazy fixation on space aliens and Area52, how can that seriously be considered a security threat? Did he find out that the USA already knew that there were no WMD's, thus making the war illegal?
Let the Israelis "interrogate" McKinnon and then incarcerate him. I guarantee he'll never hack agin...