DRY RIDGE, Ky. (Paula Toti) -- A Dry Ridge man admits what he did was hacking but said he meant no harm. He's going to federal prison next week for five months and has a warning for others. Mike Pullen says he didn't know how to hack but learned by others on the site SodaHead.com who were doing the same thing. Taking the temptation changed his life. It all started because he was upset by what he was reading on the site. He says many comments are racist, sexist and homophobic. At first he started responding to the comments under the name SkinnyMojo. He became well known by others reading the site. Then things turned illegal. I started using the site as someone else, he said. He then started deleting and changing posts by others and was trying to be subversive and funny. He would say silly things like, You can call me fancy pants. All of this he learned to do from others on the site. This was in 2009. SodaHead.com figured out what was happening. The site called me about it and I cooperated and apologized, said Pullen. Months later he admitted the same thing when the Secret Service came knocking. He then thought the matter was dropped until Federal Marshals came to his door last year. Fast forward and he's being convicted of computer intrusion and has to pay the website about 20,000 dollars for the time spent securing its website. Pullen says there's no way he'd do this again and has a message for others, This is proof positive it's illegal and when pressed they come get you. Pullen's attorney figures the government spent at least 30,000 dollars prosecuting the case. Pullen doesn't think he was targeted for his political beliefs but rather as an example that hacking is a serious crime. He says he's ready to do the time but will miss his wife and children.
