A man who broke into US politician Sarah Palin’s email account has been jailed, in spite of a judge’s recommendation that he should serve a one-year sentence in a halfway house.
David Kernell gained access to her account in 2008 by answering security questions on Palin’s Yahoo! email account.
He posted details of her correspondence online, which was obtained by the whistling-blowing website WikiLeaks.
These details were published in many media outlets and, according to the Palin family, they began to receive abuse through emails and phone calls.
Palin also said the hack damaged her vice-presidential campaign, which was at its height during the time Kernell illegally accessed her email account.
Kernell was charged with four crimes, including identity fraud and theft. Previously a court in Knoxville, Tennessee, only found him guilty of two lesser counts.
While the judge stated that he should serve 366 days in a halfway house, according to the BBC, US government officials intervened and had Kernell serve his time at a federal correctional institute.
