Lori Drew Convicted Of Misdemeanors In Megan Meier Myspace Hoax

Missouri woman Lori Drew, 49, was convicted Wednesday of three misdemeanor charges by an L.A. jury that rejected more serious felonies.  Lori was involved in a MySpace hoax that ended in 13-year-old Megan Meier’s suicide after she allegedly posed as a 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans on MySpace and participated in what the prosecutor called “an elaborate scheme to inflict massive humiliation” on the emotionally fragile Meier that ended when the girl hanged herself.

Lori faces up to three years in prison after the federal jury declined to convict her on three felony charges and couldn’t decide on a fourth. The felony counts had carried a maximum 20-year term.

Drew showed little emotion as the panel, after one day of deliberation, found her guilty of three misdemeanor counts of unauthorized computer access, sometimes referred to as hacking. The jury said it was hopelessly deadlocked on a felony conspiracy charge.

In what was being called the nation’s first cyber-bulling trial, Drew, of Dardenne Prairie, Mo., was accused of hatching the MySpace romance plan in 2006 because of a feud between Drew’s daughter and Meier. The fictional Josh concluded the online flirting by sending a message saying the world would be better off without Meier.

Meier, who had a history of depression, then hung herself in a closet with a belt. She died the next day

Although she wanted felony convictions, Megan’s mother Tina Meier, 38, hopes the case will serve as a deterrent to cyber-bullies.

“This has been a victory,” Tina told reporters Wednesday.  Meier says she wants the judge to give Drew the maximum penalty of a $300,000 fine and three years in a prison for women. Drew’s attorney, H. Dean Steward, says he will ask for probation.

“I don’t want another family to go through what I’ve had to endure,” Meier says.
She says she would have preferred that the jury deliver felony convictions on all counts, which would have exposed Drew to a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. She calls the misdemeanor convictions on the computer charge as “a stepping stone.”

“Megan’s legacy continues to go on,” Meier says. “Hopefully, this will prevent similar things from happening to other people.”

She adds that the verdict has not given her closure, and nothing ever will. “This day is not any harder than the day I found Megan (dead),” Meier says.