http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070704/METRO/707040365/1003 By Francis X. Donnelly The Detroit News July 04, 2007 Michael Sessions' youth earned him national publicity in 2005 as he became one of the youngest mayors in the United States. On Tuesday, the 19-year-old mayor of Hillsdale blamed his youth for garnering the wrong type of attention -- a misdemeanor conviction. A day earlier, Sessions pleaded no contest to sending an e-mail under someone else's name to the mother of a former friend, accusing him of drinking and running around with women. In return for the plea, prosecutors dropped a more serious charge: that Sessions had hacked into the friend's MySpace and America Online accounts to delete his lists of personal contacts with their addresses and phone numbers. "Young people make mistakes," he said. "We all make mistakes." Sessions, who was convicted of malicious annoyance by writing, was ordered by a Hillsdale County district judge to perform 40 hours of community service and pay $850 in restitution and $100 in court costs. His actions stem from a falling-out with Brandon Thomas, 19, a childhood friend who had run Sessions' mayoral campaign. Sessions said the falling-out occurred shortly after his election in November 2005 but declined to elaborate. Thomas couldn't be reached for comment. Sessions referred questions to his attorney, David Blanchard, who wasn't available because of a trial. Sessions unwittingly initiated the probe that led to the criminal charge, Hillsdale County Prosecutor Neal Brady said. Posing as the concerned parent of a student earlier this year, Sessions wrote an e-mail to Eastern Michigan University, where Thomas had been a student. He told college housing officials that Thomas had dropped out of school but was still living on campus and partying with students, hurting their grades, Brady said. When the school contacted Thomas, he told them what Sessions had done to his computer accounts. The school relayed the information to the Michigan State Police, whose investigation led to the filing of charges against Sessions. Thomas told the police that Sessions was savvy with computers and could easily get into other people's accounts, Brady said. "It was done out of anger and frustration," Brady said. "I think Sessions let it get the best of him." After his election, Sessions was interviewed by newspapers across the county and appeared on the "Late Show with David Letterman" and was parodied on "Saturday Night Live." Now a student at Hillsdale College, he said he didn't believe his indiscretion would hurt his reputation or make his age a political target. The next mayoral election is November 2009. "This is another chapter in my life," he said. "There are three ways to handle a problem: ignore it, jump over it or face it head-on. I faced this head-on." _____________________________________________________ Attend Black Hat USA, July 28-August 2 in Las Vegas, the world's premier technical event for ICT security experts. Featuring 30 hands-on training courses and 90 Briefings presentations with lots of new content and new tools. Network with 4,000 delegates from 70 nations. Visit product displays by 30 top sponsors in a relaxed setting. Rates increase on June 1 so register today. http://www.blackhat.com
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