As the U.S. Fights to Extradite Lauri Love, British MPs Urge for Him to Stand Trial in His Home Country

The infamous Lauri Love, the hacker behind hacking into U.S. Military and NASA networks, is facing extradition for what caused millions of dollars in damage. Love was caught through communications bragging, with threats of ‘messing with the U.S. Government”. Mps have told President Obama that extradition could prove deadly for Mr. Love.

The 28-year-old British man who is accused of hacking into U.S. computer networks, including the Military as well as NASA, is facing extradition by the United States Government to stand trial for his crimes. 105 MPs signed a letter warning Obama that Lauri Love has a long history of serious mental illness issues and expressed their concern for his safety.

The attempt at extradition has been going on for some time now, as the attacks took place in 2012 and 2013. Love has also been tied to the activist ‘Occupy” movement. Love’s attacks included the US Army, the Federal Reserve, and NASA computer systems.

Love was diagnosed as Autistic, and lives with his parents in Newmarket, Suffolk, where he was taken into custody. Love is accused of not only hacking and tampering, but stealing a large amount of data from said networks. If he is eventually convicted, he could face up to 99 years in prison.

Mps said that British courts are able to handle the case just fine, and are able to prosecute Love without sending him to the United States. Love’s case almost mimics Gary McKinnon’s, the hacker with Asperger’s who faced extradition for hacking US computer systems as well. His extradition was blocked by then Home Secretary Theresa May.

In the letter the MPs wrote:

Indeed, Mr. Love would be the first UK-based computer hacker to be extradited and denied the opportunity to face full prosecution in the UK. The UK criminal justice system is equipped to bring justice through sentencing and rehabilitating people who are adjudged to have committed these crimes. Many of these 12 cases did not involve individuals who have significant mental health issues, nor Asperger syndrome and were not at a high risk of suicide, yet they were not extradited. We would like to ask, why then is the United States insistent on Mr. Love’s extradition despite the UK having a proven track record of appropriately sentencing and rehabilitating individuals who have committed computer hacking offences against the US?

Love also suffers from severe depression, and is arguing for himself that a sentence in the U.S. prison system would lead to him having a severe mental breakdown, or even worse, suicide.

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