Charges filed in Scio Parish computer intrusion investigation

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Charges were filed as part of the investigation into incidents at Scio City Hall involving computer access, an email message and a calendar invitation.

The Sun Times News (STN) reached out to the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) and learned that charges have been filed in the case of current Township Board Trustee, candidate for Supervisor and local resident Jillian Kerry for misdemeanor invasion of privacy and interference with electronic communications.

WCSO told STN that next steps would include a preliminary (probable) court hearing, followed by a trial.

STN contacted Kerry to ask her about this.

She made the following statement:

“On June 20, 2024, I was charged in Washtenaw County 14A District Court with using a computer to commit a crime. According to the indictment, this alleged crime occurred on November 15, 2023, at 827 North Zeeb Road, which is the home of Scio Township City Hall, where I proudly serve as a Scio Township Trustee and Chair of the Street Advisory Board. I am utterly astonished and dismayed by these unfair allegations, which are baseless and untrue. I have been advocating for the honest citizens of Scio Township for years, helping them with their complaints, getting to the bottom of problems, fighting for transparency, and advocating for good governance. My efforts have made some of the establishment forces in the Township very uncomfortable. Before becoming involved in my community, I was a stay-at-home mom who juggled self-employment and raising three beautiful daughters. I am grateful to have been blessed and now enjoy the joy of having my first granddaughter. I am a 57-year-old woman with a clean record. Until these unfounded charges, I have never had any trouble with the law in my life and have never been arrested or charged with a crime. It is very disturbing that these charges have been brought on the eve of the upcoming primary election on August 6th. I will vigorously defend myself with the truth and have complete confidence that the judge or jury will clear my good name. Regardless of this unfounded distraction coming in the midst of my campaign for Supervisor, I will continue my consistent public service to the residents of my community in Scio Township.”

Looking back on this situation, STN was informed late last year by Scio Township Supervisor Will Hathaway that an investigation by the Sheriff’s Office and an internal review by the Township were underway because someone had gained unauthorized access to his Scio email account.

In addition to the separate investigation by the Washtenaw County Sheriff, an internal review was conducted by the township.

In late November, the Town Council authorized the Town Manager to “conduct an administrative review of the reasons why the Clerk received an email message from the account [email protected] on November 15, 2023 and the Planning Coordinator received a calendar invitation from the account [email protected] without the Supervisor’s knowledge that they were sent. The administrative review may also include recommendations to the Township regarding procedures and policies to prevent such occurrences in the future.”

The municipality worked with N1Discovery to conduct the investigation and a report was subsequently published.

The summary of the report states:

“N1 Discovery (“N1 D”) was retained by the Township of Scio (hereinafter “Client”) to assist in the collection and forensic examination of one (1) Dell Latitude laptop (hereinafter “Shared Dell Laptop”) and various Microsoft Office 365 log files (“0365”) related to this matter. N1 D was informed by the Client that the Shared Dell Laptop had a shared account called “Meeting Host” that was used by multiple users to access and schedule Zoom meetings.”

“According to the customer, on November 15, 2023 at 6:08 p.m. (hereinafter “Email Incident Date”), an email with the subject line “FW: EXTERNAL RE: Election Commission Package Has Been Released” was sent from the email account “[email protected]” assigned to Will Hathaway (hereinafter “Hathaway Email Account”). Mr. Hathaway stated that he did not send the email.”

“The customer informed N 1 D that on November 15, 2023, Jillian Kerry, a municipal employee who is also a user of the shared Dell laptop, requested assistance from Ian Hubert in accessing the shared Dell laptop. During the assistance, Ian Hubert discovered that the Hathaway email account was still logged into the Outlook desktop application on the shared Dell laptop.”

“If additional digital forensic analysis work is performed or relevant information becomes available, N1 D may revise, modify or supplement this report.”

The summary of the report’s findings states that it is neither clear how the alleged meeting invitation was sent nor what action led to the email in question being sent.