A former Sandia National Laboratories that admitted to using her computer to track and harass Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington has been sentenced to 24 months in federal prison.
Devon Townsend declined to comment Wednesday before appearing before U.S. District Judge William "Chip" Johnson. She has 60 days to surrender to a minimum security prison in Phoenix where she is expected to receive mental health care.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Federici said he was pleased with the judge's decision.
"Judge Johnson sent a clear message that if you stalk somebody, if you torment somebody, if you terrorize somebody, then you're going to pay the price, and that price is time in federal prison," he said.
Townsend had pleaded guilty to charges of stalking, unlawful access to stored communications and unauthorized fixation of and trafficking in sound recordings of live musical performances.
She had faced up to five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 for each count.
Townsend, who worked in Sandia's technology and manufacturing group, used lab computers to illegally access private information about Bennington and his wife, Talinda, from January 2006 to November
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2006.
According to a plea agreement, Townsend said she was able to access family photos, information about a new home purchased by the Benningtons, the couple's travel plans and correspondence between Warner Brothers Records and Linkin Park's business attorney—including a copy of a check made to Bennington from the record company and a copy of the band's recording contract.
Townsend also accessed the couple's cell phone accounts online and downloaded digital phone pictures and monitored voice messages.
"On at least one occasion, knowing that Chester Bennington was in Arizona, I traveled to Arizona solely for the purpose of trying to see him," Townsend said in the plea agreement. "While I was there, I monitored Chester Bennington's voice mails as a means of trying to locate where he might be eating dinner or lunch."
Investigators said Townsend also hacked into the e-mail of Bennington's wife and at one point called the former Playboy model and threatened her.
Court documents also said investigators searched Townsend's home in Albuquerque and found Linkin Park posters, autographed band memorabilia, pictures of Townsend with Chester Bennington, bootlegged Linkin Park music and copies of messages and photographs intercepted from the Bennington family's e-mail accounts.
-AP
