A federal grand jury found cause to charge Drew with conspiracy and computer fraud associated with the creation of the MySpace profile that authorities and Meier’s parents believe drove the 13 year old girl to hang herself in October 2006.

The LA Times said the grand jury in Los Angeles resulted from federal prosecutors seeing a Los Angeles connection, due to MySpace being based in the city. An attorney for Drew denied her client having any involvement with the MySpace profile for the fake ‘Josh Evans’.

“This adult woman allegedly used the Internet to target a teenage girl with horrendous ramifications,” US Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien said. “This was a tragedy that did not have to happen.”

O’Brien’s office released a statement saying the indictment alleges Drew violated the MySpace terms of service in creating the phony Josh Evans.

“The conspiracy count carries a maximum statutory penalty of five years in federal prison. Each count of accessing protected computers, each of which alleges that the access was for the purpose of intentionally inflicting emotional distress on (Megan Meier), carries a maximum possible penalty of five years in prison,” the statement said.

“That girl later committed suicide after the ‘boy’ spurned her and told her, among other things, that the world would be a better place without her,” it continued.

]]> http://www.webpronews.com/lori-drew-charged-in-myspace-suicide-2008-05/feed 35 http://www.webpronews.com/myspace-suicide-mom-indicted-2008-05 http://www.webpronews.com/myspace-suicide-mom-indicted-2008-05#comments Thu, 15 May 2008 21:37:16 +0000 WebProNews Staff http://www.webpronews.com/?p=45480 The woman whose bizarre MySpace hoax led to a 13-year-old girl's suicide was indicted today on federal charges. If convicted on all counts, Lori Drew could face a maximum of 20 years in prison.

The country was stunned by the alleged actions of Drew some months back when news broke of the sadistic mind game she was playing with a neighborhood teenager and classmate of her daughter. Posing as a teenage boy, the 49-year-old Drew is said to have rejected the romantic interest of Megan Meier and told her the world would be better off without her. Meier later hanged herself. ]]> The woman whose bizarre MySpace hoax led to a 13-year-old girl’s suicide was indicted today on federal charges. If convicted on all counts, Lori Drew could face a maximum of 20 years in prison.

The country was stunned by the alleged actions of Drew some months back when news broke of the sadistic mind game she was playing with a neighborhood teenager and classmate of her daughter. Posing as a teenage boy, the 49-year-old Drew is said to have rejected the romantic interest of Megan Meier and told her the world would be better off without her. Meier later hanged herself.

Drew was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles. She faces one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress. If convicted, Drew faces a maximum of five years for each count.

According the Los Angeles Times, there may be some jurisdictional issues. Though indicted by a federal grand jury, Drew’s attorney wondered why the indictment didn’t come through Missouri, where Drew resides.