Two sides of Larry Mendte go to a judge

Dr. Jekyll, or - federal prosecutors call him - Mr. Hyde?

Nearly six months after FBI agents showed up at his front door, former CBS3 news anchor Larry Mendte will be sentenced Monday for hacking into the e-mail of one-time colleague Alycia Lane and sending salicious details to tabloids.

Mendte, fired in June, pleaded guilty to the federal felony charge of accessing, without authorization, a computer. Mendte, who had said he felt threatened by his colleague, admitted to installing a keystroke-capture device on Lane's computer. He continued to spy on her after she was fired in January over an incident involving New York police. All told, prosecutors allege, Mendte hacked into her computer more than 3,000 times over two years.

Both Mendte's attorney, Michael A. Schwartz, and U.S. Attorney Michael L. Levy recently filed sentencing memorandums with U.S. District Judge Mary A. McLaughlin, and the portraits of the Delaware County-bred Mendte vary widely.

Schwartz touts his public service and charity work.

Levy calls him "sneaky" and said Mendte kicked Lane even when she was down.

The sentencing guideline range is up to six months punishment and allows for probation, probation with conditions (such as home confinement), or jail, plus a fine of $500 to $5,000.

Levy did not request a specific sentence but mentioned "upward departure considerations" as he detailed the damage that Mendte inflicted on Lane's career and reputation.

It's a complicated case in the Internet age, and its basis - including leaks of attorney-client information - has not been thoroughly examined in the legal system.

Schwartz, asking that his client get probation, forwarded to the judge letters from 69 friends, relatives, colleagues, clergy members and a therapist who began treating Mendte in June, shortly after news of the investigation surfaced.

Dennis W. Donnelly, a psychotherapist, wrote that Mendte reached out to him in June not only to deal with the stress of his legal situation but to try to understand his behavior. Donnelly said Mendte had been bullied in grade school and was motivated by "the fear of losing his job and his standing in the profession and in the community, rather than hatred or a need for vengeance." He also said Mendte was "quite remorseful" and "would never engage in this behavior again."

Mendte's wife, Fox29 news anchor Dawn Stensland, wrote what she called "the most difficult and perhaps the most important letter I've ever written." Praising her husband for confessing to what he had done, she said "there was nothing but sadness in our home over this whole case." She added that she hoped that "our family can hold hands around the Thanksgiving table in prayer and give thanks that this federal case did not take 'Dad' away from our home."

In the government's memo, Levy did not seek a specific sentence but laid out, in detail, the damage to Lane's career and the scope of Mendte's snooping.

Levy noted that the case presents a "difficult sentencing decision." Levy acknowledged Mendte's charitable side but suggested that the spying - which continued after Lane had left the station - was the "antithesis of charity."

"As Ms. Lane was sinking, personally and professionally, he was secretly adding anchors to her, affirmately trying to help get her convicted," Levy wrote. "Dr. Jekyll appeared nightly on television; however it is Mr. Hyde who appears before this court to be sentenced."

The government's memo claims that Mendte's "only purpose was to spy upon, humiliate, and destroy the career of a coworker - a person that he saw as a threat to his financial success." Levy described some invasions as the "electronic equivalent of steaming open her love letters and reading them."

The memo says that Mendte also sent an anonymous letter to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office that "suggested that Lane was dishonest when she asserted that she did community service."

After Lane's arrest and firing, Levy's memo says, Mendte "saw a chance to finish off a wounded opponent," even though she no longer was in a position to undermine him at the station. The memo describes the leaks of privileged information and the anonymous letter as "malicious acts."

Schwartz, in advocating for his client, wrote: "In between both of those images is the real Larry Mendte. A person with imperfections and insecurities, a person who has made a lifelong commitment to helping others, and a person who is full of remorse, seeking forgiveness, and looking for a second chance."

In a civil complaint, Lane is suing CBS3, Mendte and the Philadelphia Daily News.