Jason is a Data Scientist working in Higher Education, computing enthusiast, former Teaching Assistant and Graduate Research Assistant, Eagle Scout, published researcher and candidate US Diplomat. We need your support to  save Jason . Jason has been indicted with a serious felony network hacking charge  ("Causing Damage to a Protected Computer") for harmlessly pranking his fellow hacker whom first hacked Jason's email at a Silicon Valley programming club called the  Hacker Dojo . After he joined the  Hacker Dojo , where he founded the  Palo Alto Data Science Association  and was generous donor, Jason was approached by more a senior member, Brian Klug, who felt that Jason’s humorously chosen premium email address ( ad.min@hackerdojo.com ) -- which Jason purchased from Hacker Dojo for $100 and simply used as a funny vanity forwarding email address for his primary Gmail account -- was not funny and too closely resembled a real admin account (Brian being one of Hacker Dojo's admins at the time, though he's since left to focus on an acting-related startup in LA).  Jason never wanted anything more than to be friends  with Brian and to enjoy his other friendships and Meetup groups at Hacker Dojo, as he did for several months before these horrible, ridiculous actions against him. This individual (Brian) performed a denial of service attack on Jason’s email account and conducted a Social Engineering attack on Jason using his emails to keep him on the phone for hours and miss important business meetings. Rather than argue or pursue legal recourse, Jason decided to play a friendly prank on him in return and performed three twenty minute stress tests on one of Brian’s wifi hotspots while  leaving multiple free high speed hotspots available for use, including his own 4G mobile hotspot (which he opened up to all those present)  and citywide free WiFi from Google. While others in the group reacted with good humor, Brian and a friend of his (Nimi), called the FBI and now Jason is facing career-ruining charge, and probation and/or federal prison, simply for defending himself and playing a harmless prank. Immediately after the hacking battle with Brian, Jason apologized and received an outpouring of supportive emails from members of the Hacker Dojo. Your letters, photos, and outreach are greatly appreciated.   It's been gratifying to see shows of support from folks around the globe, including ThinkGeek (via Twitter), the EFF (legal referrals/advice), nerd rap king YTCracker  (via Facebook) and Hacker Dojo members . On January 26, 2015, after a year and a half of negotiations, prosecutor David Callaway has refused to drop the charge or even honor his initial (accepted) offer of a deferred judgment misdemeanor (which he retracted after Jason requested that exaggerations and falsehoods be removed from the agreement's narrative at his lawyer's suggestion and because of a complaint over a fruitless illegal search and illegal contact with Jason's employer in a series of illegal, unscrupulous actions they refer to as "indoctrination").  A trial date is scheduled to be set on February 23, 2015 in San Jose.
Your support is needed now more than ever.  Jason has no funding for his defense and his case has been juggled between very young and less experienced assistant public defenders. He has been subjected to

a search with a warrant and later an illegal, warrantless search (both completely fruitless) federal pre-trial detention for nearly 1 month because the prosecution argued that since he once traveled abroad once on vacation that he could've been a "flight risk" (...) pre-trial supervision and monitoring financial ruin stemming from legal costs, frequent status hearings requiring cross-country travel, etc

Again, Jason has no criminal background and faces no other charges;  this one ridiculous charge is completely destroying him . Due to the indignity, financial devistation to himself and his family, and damage to his career, Jason will have no chance at a decent life if convicted. The constant thought being made unable to use the skills he spent more than a decade in college cultivating due the impact of a criminal background on employment leaves him in a state of deep depression; he has had no peace since this all began in Summer of 2013. Conviction would guarantee the rest of his life to be spent in financial insolvency and as a third-class citizen with fewer rights and only the most unfulfilling employment prospects. Jason was forced to resign from his job in Silicon Valley after FBI agents contacted his employer about Hacker Dojo. Frequent court dates and interference from the prosecution cost him several job opporunities and threatens his current employment;  a conviction would spell the end of his professional career and aspirations to serve the nation's Foreign Service corps as a diplomat .  Without your support, I fear this case will end in a tragedy.  Please help me ask that this charge be dropped.
Let’s save Jason! * MAJOR UPDATE -- FEB 2015 * I prematurely declared victory when we finally hit our goal of 1,000 supporters' signature -- including encouragement from Hacker Dojo members like Chris Rockman, websites like ThinkGeek.com, international journalists like Melty Group, musicians like YTCracker and I heard some possibly (I thought?) encouraging statements from Hacker Dojo CEO David Weekly. This was a mistake. This is the final week before felony trial proceedings begin, which will be the point of no return. The assistant public defender promised to get back to us by yesterday on the results of his final negotiations with the prosecutor (AUSA Callaway), which were supposed to reflect the results of negotiations that include: -- public sentiment, reflected in this petition and its >1,000 signers -- support from dozens of current and past Hacker Dojo members, including those who were present and those who received the benefits of some of Jason's many (food, book and $) donations -- Econometricians from SDSU and UC Irvine prepared to prove negligible gross economic damages  -- Professors of CS and IT prepared to testify/prove that Jason's stress tests were not distinguishable from other, unrelated stress tests, that they were very limited in scope -- that multiple equally fast and free Internet connections were available -- the fact that the government committed several crimes during the course of this case and knowingly told lies and exaggerations in the courtroom However, not having received the go-ahead from Mr. Weekly, the assistant public defender did not include or reference any of the support from Hacker Dojo... and in the spirit of preserving a good working relationship with the prosecutor, he did not mention the expert witnesses, nor the crimes and improprieties committed by the prosecution/government. The result was that the prosecutor completely refused negotiation. Nothing improved -- we did not get our miracle... we only lost time and hope.  Jason was deeply distraught and distressed at this development. After leaving him alone for several hours, I found him... alive. Barely. Without going into too much detail out of respect for Jason's privacy, I can only say that he is safely recovering from physical injury, but is deeply depressed and has lost hope. I want to make one more push to give him hope.... to give him his life back. Jason is a WONDERFUL individual, a kind, honest, hard-working, friendly, generous, loyal, trustworthy soul with a soft heart and sharp intellect. He deserves our support and nothing less.   -Jessica http://saveanerd.net