Woman Sentenced for ‘Electronic Terror’

A Burbank woman was sentenced to three-years’ probation and ordered to undergo psychotherapy for her involvement in a “reign of electronic terror” last year that began after a computer hacker, acting on her behest, electronically broke into another woman’s credit files.

Jennifer Schuster, 19, who had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of harassment, cried softly on Friday as Van Nuys Municipal Judge Kenneth L. Chotiner pronounced sentence, which also included an order that she perform 200 hours of community service.

When asked to explain why she participated in the computer harassment of 21-year-old Wendei Melnick, Schuster told a probation officer, “I didn’t appreciate her calling my boyfriend at work and asking him to come over.”

In retaliation, Schuster asked Steven Rhoades, 20, a self-proclaimed computer hacker from Eagle Rock, to terrorize Melnick, Los Angeles Police Detective Duane Burris said.

Placed on Probation

Rhoades was put on probation after a 1979 incident in which he and three other youths were charged with tapping into a North America Air Defense (NORAD) computer in Colorado Springs, Colo. He was sentenced last December to a 90-day jail sentence and two years’ probation for his part in the harassment of Melnick.

“Rhoades may have engineered the operation, but Jennifer Schuster fully participated in the reign of electronic terror,” the prosecutor, Deputy City Atty. David Schulman, said.

At Friday’s sentencing, Melnick testified that she received up to 50 anonymous telephone threats a day at her home and place of employment, a Woodland Hills computer manufacturing firm, over a four-month period.

“I didn’t know who was calling me,” Melnick said. “It would either be a deep voice or a high shrill that sounded like a spooky Mickey Mouse.”

Knew About Melnick

The caller recited Melnick’s Social Security number, her driver’s license number, facts about the three previous jobs she had held, where she rented furniture and how much she owed on a car loan, Burris said.

“They told me I was going to die,” Melnick said. “They knew everything about me. It was terrifying. I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t think it was any kind of joke.”

On Sept. 18, 1984, detectives raided Rhoades’ home after tracing the calls and found messages from Schuster on Rhoades’ telephone answering machine.

Schuster’s attorney, Eugene Berchin, said that while the defendant may have asked Rhoades to harass Melnick, “Rhoades lost control. There is no indication that my client encouraged him.”

Asked for Leniency

Asking the judge for leniency for Schuster, Berchin said: “Her boyfriend was about to be taken away. What she did was based on love. Please be kind.”

Schulman said that Schuster’s crime should not be taken lightly. “It demonstrates the terrible consequences of technology’s abuse under the cover of anonymity,” he said. “The defendants demonstrated a frightening degree of control over” the victim’s life.

Melnick said that she went out with Schuster’s boyfriend only twice.