Phillies fanatic convicted on 79 counts of hijacking
Phillies fanatic convicted on 79 counts of hijacking
A Philadelphia Phillies fanatic was convicted today in federal court on 79 counts of hijacking -- the e-mail addresses of local sportswriters.Allan E. Carlson, 41, was accused of seizing the e-mail addresses of Philadelphia area sportswriters to spread his complaints about the baseball team's management. He was convicted of 79 counts of fraud, idenity theft, and computer hacking-related offenses.
U.S. District Judge Berle M. Schiller asked the jury to resume deliberations to decide on the amount of financial loss Carlson's scam caused Philadelphia Newspapers Inc., publisher of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News. Prosecutors said Carlson was angry that the papers' sportswriters were not more critical of Phillies management.
Testifying in his own defense during the three-day trial, Carlson said he did not believe what he did was a crime or that it would cause harm to the newspapers.
The federal jury deliberated only an hour before returning at noon with guilty verdicts on all counts against Carlson. He is a native of New Jersey who has lived in the Los Angeles area for several years.
