
             **********************************************
             *   Long-Jailed Hacker To Go Phree In May    *
             *                                            *
             **********************************************
                          By Demon Phreaker

 LONG-JAILED HACKER TO GO FREE IN MAY
 Daily News of Los Angeles (LA) - FRIDAY November 10, 1995
 By: Keith Stone Daily News Staff Writer
 Edition: Valley  Section: NEWS  Page: N9
 Word Count: 439
 
 TEXT:

 The first indictment of its kind charging a computer hacker with possession
 of  government  secrets  was  dropped Thursday, but the North Hollywood man
 pleaded guilty to several other computer crimes.
 As  part  of  his  plea  agreement in U.S. District Court in San Jose,
 30-year-old Kevin Lee Poulsen is expected to be released May 20 after being
 held  in  custody  for  five  years  -  longer  than any computer hacker in
 history. When  Poulsen  was  arrested  in  April  1991 in Van Nuys, 
 prosecutors  accused  him  of  using  stolen Pacific Bell access codes
 to invade an Army computer network,     
 eavesdrop on telephone security agents and obtain secrets
 about an FBI probe of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos.
 But  Thursday, the only charges Poulsen pleaded guilty to were illegal
 possession  of  computer  passwords, computer fraud and use of a false name
 and  Social  Security  card,  according  to  his attorney and U.S. Attorney
 Michael Yamaguchi.
 
 The self-taught hacker, known in computer circles as the "Dark Dante,"
 has been behind bars since his arrest.
 In  1993,  while  awaiting  trial  on  the  San Jose case, Poulsen was
 indicted  in  Los Angeles on new charges that he uncovered FBI wiretaps and
 electronically seized the radio station telephones to win contests.
 Last  April,  Poulsen  was  sentenced  in  Los Angeles to 51 months in
 prison  and ordered to pay $58,000 in restitution for his role in the radio
 station scam, which netted him a Hawaii vacation, Porsche and cash prizes.
 
 In  a  telephone interview this week from the Santa Clara County Jail,
 Poulsen  acknowledged  that  he  deserved  "a few years" in custody for his
 hacking.  But  Poulsen  said  the  government  overreached, accusing him of
 crimes he did not commit. 
 "You can't always tell when the first press release comes out what the
 real story is behind the case," Poulsen said.
 
 Poulsen's  attorney, Paul Meltzer, described the computer whiz as "the
 usual typical hacker interested in pushing the frontier of all of this.
 "What he wasn't doing," Meltzer said, "was espionage."
 Yamaguchi  said  Poulsen had obtained government secrets, but he could
 not  be  prosecuted  for  it  because  there  was  no  evidence he knew the
 information was top secret.
 
 To  be  prosecuted  for  possession  of national security information,
 Yamaguchi said, "You have to knowingly and willfully possess the material."
 The  government  secrets  Poulsen  was accused of having were computer
 files of "air tasking information," Yamaguchi said.
 
 "At  that  time,  he  was  considered  one  of the more successful and
 significant hackers," Yamaguchi said. "I think he suffered the consequences
 quite severely."
 Poulsen's stepmother, Bernadine Poulsen, said he has been held far too
 long. "I just want him home," she said.
 

 Los Angeles Times (LT) - FRIDAY November 10, 1995
 By: LESLIE BERGER; TIMES STAFF WRITER
 Edition: Valley Edition   Section: Metro   Page: 1  Pt. B
 Word Count: 751
 
 TEXT:

 Kevin Lee Poulsen, a former North Hollywood man considered one of the
 nation's most skilled computer hackers, should be out of prison by the end
 of May under a plea agreement entered Thursday in federal court in San
 Francisco. The 30-year-old son of a mechanic who taught himself how to use 
 computers on a Radio Shack model became the first hacker ever to be charged
 with espionage, the most serious of a series of exploits that included
 rigging radio contests so that he and his friends could win expensive
 prizes.

 But the espionage charge was officially dropped Thursday as part of the
 agreement crafted by Poulsen's lawyer and the U.S. attorney's office. In
 exchange, he pleaded guilty to charges of possessing computer access
 devices, computer fraud and the use of a phony Social Security card,
 according to his defense attorney, Paul Meltzer.
 The maximum prison term Poulsen could receive when sentenced on Jan. 29
 will be 20 months, Meltzer said. But with credit for time awaiting
 trial--he has been incarcerated since his arrest in 1991--the computer whiz
 who signs on as Dark Dante should be released no later than May 20.
 
 "I've invited him to dinner when he gets out," Meltzer said Thursday
 after a court hearing. "I think he's a marvelous person who's spent way too
 much time in jail for any of the offenses he's charged with, and I'm hoping
 somebody will realize his incredible talent and give him a really good,
 high-paying job." 

 The 4 1/2 years Poulsen has spent in prison is the longest any computer
 hacker has served. He was sentenced in April to 51 months for hacking
 crimes in Los Angeles, but according to Meltzer, was also given credit for
 time already served, ensuring his release by spring.
 In a recent phone interview from the Santa Clara County Jail, Poulsen
 joked about his federal prosecutors and their apparent softening toward his
 case: "I'm not their favorite anymore. It does hurt a little."
 
 He was referring to super-hacker Kevin Mitnick, another San Fernando
 Valley native facing a federal charges after a nationwide manhunt and
 highly publicized arrest. Poulsen and Mitnick apparently did not know each
 other and their ties to the Valley are a coincidence, according to Meltzer
 and Assistant U.S. Atty. David Schindler.
 
 Poulsen came under federal scrutiny in the late 1980s while he was
 working in the Silicon Valley. The owner of a Menlo Park storage locker
 came across some Pacific Bell computer equipment and user manuals that
 appeared to be stolen, and contacted local police, who in turn alerted
 federal authorities.
 
 The ensuing investigation led to Poulsen's 1988 indictment on an array
 of charges, including possession of national security-related information.
 That was because the seized materials included computer tapes taken from
 Poulsen's employer, a defense subcontractor, and contained Air Force orders
 in the event of a nuclear war.
 Poulsen was never accused of hacking his way into a computer system to
 obtain the military information but of taking the tapes from his employer,
 SRI, without authorization, Schindler said.
 
 Meltzer said, however, that the tapes included information Poulsen
 needed for his job and was authorized to take home. He also said there was
 no evidence that Poulsen planned to disseminate or sell the data "or
 anything to suggest that he was recruiting some foreign power."
 Authorities overreacted, Meltzer said. "They pulled out the artillery
 usually reserved for aims and hits."
 Poulsen fled to Los Angeles, living underground for more than two years
 and carrying out computer capers that included rigging the telephone lines
 at radio stations KIIS-FM (102.7), KPWR-FM (105.9) and KRTH-FM (101.1) so
 that he and his friends could be the winning callers in contests. The
 cyber-tricks reaped them two Porches, at least two trips to Hawaii and
 $20,000 in cash.
 
 During his life as a fugitive, he was also accused of compromising
 federal agents by breaking into a Pacific Bell computer in 1989 to obtain
 information about FBI wiretaps on him.
 Poulsen was arrested in 1991 in a Sherman Oaks supermarket after being
 profiled on the TV program "America's Most Wanted." Last year, he pleaded
 guilty to seven counts of conspiracy, fraud and intercepting wire
 communications, and in April received his prison sentence of a little more
 than four years.
 He was also placed on three years of supervised probation once he
 serves his time and ordered not to own, use or work on a computer without
 permission from his probation officer.
 
     Times staff writer John Johnson contributed to this story.
  
                      Copyright (c) 1995, Times Mirror Company


 Los Angeles Times (LT) - FRIDAY November 10, 1995
 Edition: Home Edition   Section: Metro   Page: 4  Pt. B
 Story Type: Column; Brief
 Word Count: 237
 
 TEXT:

 Kevin Lee Poulsen, a former North Hollywood man considered one of the
 nation's most skilled computer hackers, should be out of prison by the end
 of May under a plea agreement entered Thursday in federal court in San
 Francisco.

 The 30-year-old son of a mechanic became the first hacker ever to be
 charged with espionage, the most serious of a series of exploits that
 included rigging radio contests so that he and his friends could win
 expensive prizes.
 
 But the espionage charge was officially dropped Thursday as part of the
 agreement crafted by Poulsen's lawyer and the U.S. Attorney's Office. In
 exchange, he pleaded guilty to charges of possessing computer access
 devices, computer fraud and the use of a phony Social Security card,
 according to defense attorney Paul Meltzer.
 
 The maximum prison term Poulsen could receive when sentenced Jan. 29
 will be 20 months, Meltzer said. But with credit for time awaiting
 trial--he has been incarcerated since his arrest in 1991--the computer whiz
 who signs on as Dark Dante should be released no later than May 20.
 
 While living underground in Los Angeles for more than two years, he
 helped carry out computer capers that included rigging the telephone lines
 at radio stations KIIS-FM, KPWR-FM and KRTH so that he and his friends
 could be the winning callers in contests. The cyber-tricks reaped them two
 Porsches, at least two trips to Hawaii and $20,000 in cash.

                      Copyright (c) 1995, Times Mirror Company
  
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