http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176370.html By Dick Kelsey, Newsbytes FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 03 May 2002, 4:02 PM CST "Melissa" virus author David L. Smith today was sentenced in a New Jersey court to 10 years in prison on state charges but will serve only a 20-month federal sentence handed down Wednesday. Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Lawrence Lawson imposed the sentence under a plea agreement with Smith, who named the virus after a topless dancer. Smith, 34, was handed the maximum "10-year sentence to run concurrently and co-terminously to the federal sentence," a court spokesman said this afternoon, which means Smith's state time will run out when he completes his federal term. U.S. District Judge Joseph A. Greenaway Jr. on Wednesday sentenced Smith to 20 months in federal prison, opting for a far shorter term than federal guidelines allow. Smith will also serve three years of supervised release upon completion of his prison stay. The federal court's decision on the lesser sentence was "based on Smith's level and length of cooperation in other investigations," according to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney's office in Newark, N.J. Smith pleaded guilty in 1999 to federal and state charges related to creation of the virus that wreaked havoc among millions of computer users worldwide and left monetary damages far greater than the $80-million maximum under federal sentencing guidelines. The macro virus was contained in a Microsoft Word document attached to an e-mail. When opened on a vulnerable system, Melissa sent copies of itself to 50 people in the victim's e-mail address book using the Microsoft Outlook e-mail program. Newsbytes correspondent Brian McWilliams contributed to this story. - ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org To unsubscribe email majordomoat_private with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY of the mail.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 06 2002 - 03:48:24 PDT