Woman charged in the Megan Meier's Myspace suicide- what EXACTLY were the federal charges?

Question

I have watched 4 SEPERATE news casting via the Internet today on this. They all say today the woman (Lori Drew) that posed as the boy on MySpace was officially federally indicted today in Megan Meier's suicide case. I have been able to "piece together" (due to S****y reporting) that she has 4 counts against her, with up to 5 years in prison for each.

BUT NOT ONE, NOT ONE, NEWS CASTING SAID WHAT THE ACTUAL FEDERAL CHARGES WERE!!!!

Can someone tell me please????

Answer 1

The federal indictment includes one count of conspiracy, and three counts of accessing protected computers.

As a prediction, I highly doubt that all four counts will ever make it to a jury, or if they do, they will not hold up to an appeal. If Lori Drew were to plea, she would most likely get the three counts of accessing protected computers dropped in exchange for the conspiracy charge, which will be dropped to an fourth degree felony, doubtfully leading to any incarceration.

If Lori Drew were to face a jury, the media attention would probably lead to a conviction, but I can not possibly foresee any one or all four counts holding up to an appeal because of the perceived "witch hunt" mentality the court of appeals, or perhaps state supreme court would see. Not that I want to see this horrible women free of responsibility, but there was a lot of digging to come up with these charges.

Answer 2

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

"Lori Drew of St Louis, Missouri was indicted on Thursday on one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorisation ..."

The charges relate to her acts, along with those of her former employee and others, which violated legal posting agreements with Myspace by giving false information to set up the account, and doing so with the intent to cause harm to another member.   The only existing offenses they could pin on Mrs. Drew revolve around violating those "user agreements" we all take for granted when signing up for something online. The case will be tried in federal District Court in Los Angeles, as Myspace has its headquarters there.

Answer 3

conspiracy