The highly debated case related to the MySpace hoax that led to the suicide of 13 year old Megan Meiers is now over, with the jury convicting 49 year old Lori Drew of three misdemeanor counts of computer fraud.

She was acquitted of the most serious charges brought against her, which would have sent her to jail for 20 years. At this point, the maximum jail sentence she can possibly receive is of three years, but she might get off just with probation. In addition to the jail time, she also faces fines totaling $300,000.

The prosecutors stated that Ms. Drew, alongside her daughter and another friend of the family, created a fake MySpace account of a 16 year old boy named Josh Evans, and began conversing with Megan. After a few weeks of pleasant talks, the messages sent were cruel and filled with hate, which caused a great deal of pain for the teenage girl. The last message, which said that the world would be a better place without her, is believed to have triggered the suicidal thoughts in the emotionally disturbed girl.

“Lori Drew decided to humiliate a child,” U.S. Attorney Thomas O’Brien, chief federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, told the jury during closing arguments. “The only way she could harm this pretty little girl was with a computer. She chose to use a computer to hurt a little girl, and for four weeks she enjoyed it.” The prosecution explained to the jury that the reason why the account was created was to publicly humiliate the girl and get back at her for saying some bad things about Drew’s daughter.

"This is about justice," Tina Meiers, Megan's mother, said just after the verdict. "It's justice not only for Megan but it is justice for everybody who has had to go through this with the computer and being harassed." She also said she feels satisfied and that she hopes Ms. Drew will serve jail time.

"MySpace respects the jury's decision and will continue to work with industry experts to raise awareness of cyber-bullying and the harm it can potentially cause," MySpace Chief Security Officer Hemanshu Nigam said in a statement, making it clear that the company does not tolerate cyber-bullying or any other similar action.

The case is believed to represent a milestone in the process of properly covering these Internet-related cases. “Keep in mind that social networking sites like MySpace did not exist until recently,” explained Nick Akerman, a New York lawyer who has written and lectured extensively on the act. “This case will be simply another important step in the expanded use of this statute to protect the public from computer crime,” he added.

The case made headlines all across the world, as people everywhere became very interested in the sad turn of events and began to closely follow the story. At this point it is not clear how severely will Ms. Drew be punished and the sentencing date is expected to be set soon.