Hillsdale Mayor Engages in Hacking and Writing Untrue E-Mails

A sentence on Hillsdale Mayor, Michael Sessions requires him to serve a 40-hours community service and pay $850 as compensation for being involved in a computer hacking incident in April 2007.

Michael Sessions, aged 19, was elected the Mayor of Hillsdale in 2006 pleaded no-comment in the first week of July 2007 to charges that he aroused malicious annoyance through writing and committed misconduct for illegally accessing the computer of Brandon Thomas, a former high-school classmate of Sessions and a campaign manager. Thomas was attending classes at the Eastern Michigan University when the incident occurred.

Sessions used a PC at his home to break into the computer network of the EMU so that he could delete Thomas' American Online and MySpace Instant Messenger accounts, said Neal Brady, County Prosecutor of Hillsdale. Hillsdale reported this on July 5, 2007.

In early 2007, Sessions pretended to be an anxious parent of a student of EMU as he wrote e-mail to the University where Thomas was studying.

He made up a complaint to the college housing officials that while Thomas was a defaulter he continued to reside on the campus and party with the students that affected the latter's academic performances.

During verification Thomas promptly told the school authorities how Sessions had erased his computer accounts. The school reported this to the Michigan State Police who started investigations that led to legal accusation on Sessions.

Thomas knew Sessions was skilled at computers who could hack into other's accounts. So he told that to the police.

According to authorities, Sessions also acted as Thomas' roommate and e-mailed to his mother saying that her son was leading an "unhealthy academic lifestyle".

EMU officials tracked the source of the e-mails and passed the case to the Michigan State Police, Brady said.

Initially, when Thomas lodged a complaint with the EMU police, the latter forwarded the case to Hillsdale State Police because Sessions used a Hillsdale computer to do the hack.

Sessions was charged with two serious crimes about how he used his computer. But Brady withdrew the charges when Sessions agreed to behave maturely about the incident.

Related article: Holliston Police Charges Graduate for Hacking Town School Computer

» SPAMfighter News - 7/19/2007