Kentucky Woman Sentenced to Prison

April 1, 2010 - HUNTINGTON, WV—Misty Dawn Evans, 35, of Ashland, Kentucky, was sentenced in federal court late Tuesday to 13 months in prison for computer intrusion and causing damage to the computer servers at her former employer, Innovative Mattress Solutions, which does business as Mattress Warehouse (the "Company"). Evans, the Company's former network administrator, had previously admitted to United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers that on April 9, 2008, at approximately 3:00 p.m., she illegally accessed the computer servers of Innovative Mattress Solutions. The computers were located in Winfield, West Virginia. Evans further admitted she deleted all of the user accounts that control all local and remote access to the Company's computer servers. Deletion of those accounts resulted in the inability of the Company's employees in four states at 65 retail stores, five distribution points, one warehouse, and the executive office in Winfield, West Virginia to communicate and conduct business on behalf of the Company from approximately 3:00 p.m. on April 9, 2008 through 6:30 a.m. on April 10, 2008. Judge Chambers found that Evans' actions caused a loss of almost $30,000. In addition to her term of imprisonment, Evans will also be required to serve a three year term of supervised release when she is released from prison and pay restitution in the amount of $28,476.

Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Booth Goodwin, II handled the prosecution. Special Agent Jack Remaley with the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation.