| Former Clay County sheriff Miles Slack who hacked his ex-wife's work computer at a Clay magistrate office was sentenced to one to two years of probation.
Lisa Slack, his former wife of 16 years, cried Thursday afternoon as she told U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver her ex-husband had been punished enough for his attempts at spying on her at work.
The Charleston Daily Mail reported, "I feel that he's been punished by losing his job, the humiliation he had to face by this being in the public, having to step down after getting the job he's always wanted," she said, her voice wavering with emotion. "Please consider probation because I feel he has been punished."
Slack pleaded guilty to illegal wiretapping in September, only a few months after a routine audit of computers at the Clay County Courthouse turned up a keystroke logger on Lisa Slack's computer, owned by the state Supreme Court of Appeals.
He resigned from office before pleading guilty.
Slack said he and his wife were going through a divorce when he installed the keystroke logger, with intent to spy on her, intercepting sensitive communications between her and other courthouse employees.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Ruby argued that Slack's position as sheriff and his decision to spy on his wife's courthouse computer, which he knew would have sensitive information on it, "heightened the seriousness of the offense."
Ruby argued for jail time for Slack, saying sentencing below the maximum range for the offense wouldn't reflect the seriousness of the crime and that a lenient sentence for a convicted sheriff would "undermine the public's respect for the law."
Miles Slack's attorney, Bill Murray, said it was never Slack's intent to hurt anyone and that the community stood to gain nothing by his being locked up.
Copenhaver said at the beginning of the sentencing hearing that he'd received letters of support from Slack's family as well as a petition in support of Slack with several hundred signatures.
Lisa Slack tearfully said there was jealousy on both of their parts during their marriage but that it got worse in the last few years.
"He's a really good man," she said. "He made a mistake. None of that was meant for the Supreme Court. He was totally after me."
"I do realize the seriousness of my actions," Slack said. "If I could take it back I would. I regret what I did very much."
He apologized to the community and his family as well as to the court for bringing them all there. His voice broke as he spoke of his ex-wife, according to the Charleston Daily Mail.
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