Lauri Love Avoids Extradition From UK to U.S. for Hacking Government Agencies

A British hacker won’t be extradited to the U.S. due to depression. 33-year-old Lauri Love allegedly hacked the U.S. Government, including Nasa, the FBI, and Army, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Federal Reserve and The Department of Energy. He’s accused of stealing sensitive military data, as well as the personal info of more than 100,000 government employees, and faces charges in three U.S. judicial districts.

Love claimed he would kill himself if he were sent to the U.S. and pointed to his depression in an appeal against extradition. He also has Asperger Syndrome and lives with his parents.

He spoke about his mental health and how it’s viewed saying, “It was very unfortunate that the prosecution tried to paint my mental health conditions as being made up, fictitious, confabulated and that contributes to the stigma of people with them.”

Love also said that this process will hopefully help others, saying “It’s to set a precedent whereby this will not happen to other people in the future if there is suspected criminality, then it will be tried here in the UK.”

Love's case is not the first of its kind — hacker Gary McKinnon had his extradition to the U.S. blocked due to Asperger’s and depression.  

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