KNOXVILLE, Tenn.—
A former University of Tennessee college student who was convicted of hacking into Sarah Palin's e-mail during the 2008 presidential campaign has been sentenced to a year and a day with the judge recommending the term be served in a halfway house, not prison.
Federal Judge Thomas W. Phillips also said David Kernell, who was a 20-year-old economics major when he deduced the answers to security questions and read e-mails in Palin's private account, should get mental health treatment.
Kernell apologized in court Friday to Palin and her family.
The judge rejected a recommendation from prosecutors who argued for 18 months in prison. It will be up to the Bureau of Prisons to decide if Kernell is allowed to go to a halfway house.
