Gary McKinnon Signs Confession To Avoid US Extradition

Gary McKinnon has signed a statement admitting a hacking offense under the UK Computer Misuse Act in a bid to avoid extradition to the US and stay in Britain instead.

This last-ditched attempt by McKinnon comes as his lawyers sent a request to the Crown Prosecution Service; if granted, the CPS's decision would make an extradition highly unlikely.

McKinnon, who has Asperger's syndrome, is accused of breaking into 97 NASA and US Army computers back in 2001 claiming to be looking for hidden evidence of UFO 

According to the US authorities, he apparently caused nearly $1 million worth of damage by deleting US government data (AP mentions one Billion USD) and could face up to 70 year s in prison.

Her mother will also talk at a Press conference on Thursday at Doughty Street Chambers in London and McKinnon's extradition Judicial Review hearing is due on Tuesday 20th January 2009 which happens to be the same day that George Bush officially hands over to Barack Obama as US President.

In November 2008, a cross party coalition of British MPs backed McKinnon's attempt to stay in the UK by bringing in an ‘early-day motion’ in parliament. His appeal to reverse a decision by the High Court and the Law Lords was rejected by the European Court of Human Rights. 

Click here for ITProportal's timeline with the most important events in McKinnon’s battle to being deported to the US.

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