Freedom Downtime Page #15

even overseas in England and Russia.

lt was an amazing spectacle...

and more people learned

about Kevin's plight than ever before.

Even though Kevin Mitnick saw

his fourth year behind bars come and go...

we felt like we were getting somewhere.

Excuse me? What are you doing?

And in the end,

Kevin did what he had to do...

to avoid spending

the next 10 years behind bars.

You're watching Southern California's

CBS 2 News at 6:
30.

Good evening. l'm Gretchen Carr.

Ann Martin is off tonight.

And l'm Michael Tuck. Up front at 6:30...

a guilty plea by notorious computer hacker

Kevin David Mitnick.

Juan Fernandez joins us live...

from the Federal Courthouse

in downtown LosAngeles.

He was the first computer hacker...

to make it to the FBl's Most Wanted List.

And after a long battle

with the federal government...

the 35-year-old man

from the San Fernando Valley comes clean.

His computer crimes apparently

cost companies millions of dollars...

although Kevin Mitnick

never admitted to them until today..

ending a four-year battle

with the federal government.

This is a very serious crime.

The federal government

takes this crime seriously.

We will prosecute hackers...

particularly when they cause

significant amounts of damage.

Mitnick nowfaces 46 months in jail.

He's already served eight months,

and according to his attorney...

with good behavior, Mitnick

might only have to serve one more year.

Mitnick will pay for his crimes

for the rest of his life.

Although his attorneys say

he has no money...

to pay restitution

to the companies that he hacked...

that doesn't mean

that they won't go after him later.

lt was as if we hadn't said a word.

l pray that they never wind up

in the legal system.

l pray that nobody does.

But the thing is that if they do...

right nowthe way it stands,

the cards are stacked against them.

lt's not about fairness.

lt's just about the way

the legal game is played.

lt's crazy to bring up

the O.J. Simpson case...

because there's no comparison here...

but here's a case where a defendant

had basically an unlimited budget...

and look what that legal team accomplished.

l'm not saying you need a lot of money

to get off for something you did.

l'm saying it doesn't matter

whether you did it or not.

The case, the legal system...

the justice system isn't about what you did

or what you didn't do.

lt's about either the government

is going to win the case...

or you'll win the case.

That's all that matters in the case.

lt isn't all that matters morally

l'm just saying in the court system,

that's all that matters.

The prosecution will do

whatever they can do...

spend whatever money they can

to win a case...

and you have to do the same thing

or you will lose.

You know, this is no longer

about what the law allows or doesn't allow

This is about how do you make it

as difficult as possible for the defendants...

to get them to roll over or cop a plea.

lt has nothing to do with justice anymore.

God help you

if you get stuck in that system...

because it's very easy to get in...

and it's almost impossible

to get out unscathed...

because you're up against an adversary...

that has everything going for it

except maybe the truth.

And, unfortunately,

that doesn't count for much.

So, that's the way it is.

lf the legal community

doesn't wake up shortly...

we're gonna have more people locked up...

than we know what to do with.

A lot of them are going to be kids.

Unfortunately.

l don't think it ended.

lt turned into this huge controversy

that went on until now

But there weren't any more stories

in the New York Times about it.

What would you think

that we should have reported? l mean....

l appreciate everybody taking the time

to viewthis film...

l appreciate everybody taking the time

to viewthis film...

which was a tremendous effort

on the part of Emmanuel Goldstein...

and everyone on the 2600 staff.

And l want to offer...

my sincere appreciation and gratitude...

for the tremendous moral support

that everyone has given me...

throughout this five year ordeal.

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