Clayton Kelly, the man who posted pictures of Senator Thad Cochran's ailing, late wife to the internet is being sent to prison. Kelly will serve two-and-a-half years in prison followed by another two-and-a-half years probation.
Nearly 13 months after he was originally arrested, Clayton Kelly has been sentenced to prison for conspiracy to commit burglary of a dwelling.
Kelly pleaded guilty to the crime last week, after previously maintaining that he was acting as a journalist trying to prove Senator Cochran was having an affair with one of his aides.
District Attorney Michael Guest says he thinks the judge made the right call.
"There was also a lot of stupidity in that," Guest says. "He should have been able to foresee what he was doing was wrong. I think he knew what he had done was wrong, and it took him until the eve of trial before he was willing to do that."
Kelly could have faced up to five years in prison for the crime, but prosecutors we're quick to point out to the judge that Kelly had fully cooperated with authorities.
Kelly's lawyer, Kevin Camp, says social media left a tail of evidence that made it no surprise that his client received the two-and-a-half years in prison.
"Everything was on Facebook," says Camp. "Everything had been talked about between the parties about going and getting the photo and going to St. Catherine's. All of that stuff was out on face book."
Kelly is the only prison sentenced to prison for the crime. Both of his co-conspirators received deals that prevented jail time.
