Lori Drew, the Missouri woman who posed as a 16-year-old boy on MySpace in order to disturb a troubled teenage girl who later committed suicide was found guilty on Wednesday on three misdemeanor charges, but no felonies, by a federal jury. The jury rejected the felony charges against Lori Drew, which stated that she accessed a computer without authorization, in order to inflict emotional distress.

Drew posed as a boy to harass a former friend of her daughter. The girl, Megan Meier, 13, committed suicide two years ago, hanging herself with a belt in her bedroom closet. The jury found Drew guilty of three misdemeanor counts of violating the terms of service with MySpace, but the jurors were unable to reach a verdict on a count of conspiracy.

A federal grand jury indicted Drew on four counts in May, alleging that she and others, including her daughter Sarah, then 13, and an 18-year-old assistant, registered as a member of MySpace to contact Megan and lure her into what she believed to be an online romance with a new boy in town. Even if each count carried a maximum of five years in prison, the lesser misdemeanor charges are likely to mean no jail time. Drew violated MySpace’s terms of service by using fraudulent registration information and obtaining personal information about juvenile members in order to harass, abuse or harm them.

Defense attorney Dean Steward said that no one reads these terms and, therefore, it cannot violate them, but, however, the verdict underscores the complexities of the case. By reaching this verdict, the jurors basically say that everyone who violates the terms of service of the Web sites they visit could become criminally liable. Megan’s parents have said that their daughter had struggled with depression since third grade and that the messages from Josh were the first affectionate ones their daughter had ever received.

After Megan’s death, Ron Meier, her father, found out that Josh’s profile had been created by a neighbor down the street. The resulting public outrage led state and federal prosecutors to examine the case, but it was decided that there’s no point in federal prosecution. However, federal prosecutors in the Los Angeles area, where MySpace’s servers are, picked up the case.

Tina Meier said for The New York Times that she would ask that Lori Drew be held to the maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $300,000 fine. Tina Meier also said that she is grateful that federal prosecutors in California filed charges against Lori Drew.