A 33-year-old British man who allegedly hacked into the FBI, NASA, and Federal Reserve and did millions of dollars worth of damage as a form of protest in 2012 and 2013 won't be stepping foot on US soil anytime soon. The High Court of London decided against extradition on Monday, with the
Guardian reporting that it agreed with the two arguments his lawyers put forth as part of Love's
appeal against extradition: That he could be prosecuted in the UK, and that Love, who has Asperger's and depression, could end up killing himself while in US custody. The
AP reports the judges felt his suicide risk would be lessened if he was jailed in England, where family and friends would be accessible to him.
The BBC and Wired quote Love as saying "the reason I have gone through this ordeal is not to just to save myself from being kidnapped and locked up for 99 years in a country I have never visited," but that he hoped his case set a "precedent so this will not happen to people in the future. ... I'm hoping that this outcome can contribute to the discussion we are having as a society about how to accommodate people that have neuro-diversity, whose brains are made up in a slightly different way." Wired notes that Love would have faced up to 99 years and a fine of up to $9 million were he convicted in US courts. As for prospects of being tried on his own shore, the judges in their ruling "emphasize ... that it would not be oppressive to prosecute Mr. Love in England for the offences alleged against him." (More hackers stories.)
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