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UNITEDSTATESDISTRICTCOURT EASTERNDISTlUCTOF TENNESSEE AT KNOXVILLE
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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U.S. DISTRICT
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NO. 3'OS-Cl}y f'~~RN DIS8fUJ.
DAVID C. KERNELL, alkla ~'rubica."
JUDGES:1~Ih' , lli~ . DEF'CLERK 8\-\)r~
Defendant.
I herebyct:Jrtify UlathisIsa1n;~amicorrect copyoftheelectronically filldoriginaldoC~ AmST: patrlcic1L Mc;Nutt
INDICTMENT
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The Grand Jury Charges:
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DefendantDAVIDC.KERNELL .wasa residentofKnoxville,~~ss; -- -:
occasionally used the nicknames ''rubico'~ and urobicolOIl,among others, on the Iritemet:'
2.
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Yaboo! was an Electronic ConununicaTIansService Provider providing e-mailand
other services to the public in the United States and abroa~ and its e-mai] computers and servers for the yahoo.com domain are located in California.
3.
Sarah Palin was Governor of the State of Alaska and the R~pub1icannominee for
Vice President of the United States. 4.
Governor Palin maintained and used the e-~ai1 account gQv.palin@yahoo-com.
On or about September 1°>2008~the existence of this e-mail account was disclosed to the public by several news sources.
5.
On or about September 16J2008, while residing in Tennessee~ defendant Kemell
gained unauthorized access to the ewmailaccount gov,palLn@n,hoQ,cQrn, by resetting the password using Yahoo's password-recovery tool. Specifically, he reset the password to "popcomn by researching and correctly answering a series of personal security questions.
6.
Once defendant KerneU esta.blishedcontrol over the e~mai1account by changing
the password, he read the oontents and made screenshots ofthe~-maiI directoryJ eftmailcontent. and other personal information, The personal information included, and was not limited to. other e-mail addresses offamily members, pictures offamily members. at least one cell phone number
of a family member, the dates of birth of GovernorPalin and another family member)and Governor Palinjs address book for her Yahoo e-mail account. The screenshots of personal informationobtained from the
[email protected] accountwere posted to a public website on the Internetknown ashttp://W1.NW_4CHAN.org. Defendant1{ernell posted the reset password, thus providing the means of access to the e-mail account to others.
7.
At I~ast one other individual successfully used the reset password to access
Govemor Pa.lin"se-mail account. 8.
Afterposting thenewpassword tohttp://www.4CHAN.org~ andin contemplation
of an investigation by law enforcement authorities~defendant Kernen. removed, altered, concealed and covered up files on bis laptop computer.
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COUNT ONE 9.
The introductory allegations set forth in paragraphs 1-8 are rcalleged herein.
10.
On or about September 16, 2008, in the Eastern District of Tennesseeand
elsewhere, defendant
DAVID C. !(ERNELL, in furtherance of the commission of a criminal a~ in violation of the laws of the United States, including 18 U.S.C. Section 2701 and 18 U.S.C. Section lO30(a)(2)t intentionally and without
authorization accessed a protected computer by means of an interstate communicationand there:by obtained information, and did aid and abet in same. [Title 18~United States Code, Sections 2~103O(a)(2)(C). and lO30(c)(2)(B)(ii)]
A TAUE BILL: sfEarepe,non FOREPERSON
JAMES R..DEDRICK United States Attorney
By:
~ D. Gregory Weddle Assistant United States Attorney ~/MII,k L. Krotoski Mark L. Krotoski Trial Attorney United States Department of Justice. Criminal Division
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