Probation Recommended In MySpace Suicide Case

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Associated Press
Tuesday, May 5, 2009

LOS ANGELES, May 4 -- A Missouri mother involved in a MySpace hoax on a 13-year-old neighbor girl who committed suicide should be placed on probation for one year and fined $5,000 for her misdemeanor convictions, probation officials recommended.

The recommendation was included in court documents filed Sunday by Lori Drew's attorney, Dean Steward.

Drew could face up to three years in prison and a $300,000 fine on three counts of accessing computers without authorization. A jury convicted her in November, but Steward has asked U.S. District Court Judge George Wu to throw out the verdicts.

Prosecutors would not comment but are likely to file a response before Drew's sentencing on May 18.

Prosecutors said Drew violated MySpace service rules by helping to create a fictitious teenage boy on the site and sending flirtatious messages from him to Megan Meier, a neighbor in suburban St. Louis.

The fake boy then dumped Megan in a message saying the world would be better without her. She hanged herself a short time later.

Jurors found Drew not guilty of the more serious felonies of intentionally causing emotional harm while accessing computers without authorization.

The trial was held in Los Angeles because the servers of the social networking site are in the area.