[September 22, 2011] Bertram takes plea deal in hacking case Tweet Sep 22, 2011 (The Bakersfield Californian - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A political kerfuffle involving former City Council candidate Martin Bertram and 32nd Assembly District candidate Ken Mettler came to a quiet end Wednesday with a plea deal -- not a jury trial as had been anticipated -- more than a year after it began. Bertram pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of delaying an investigation and an infraction charge of unauthorized access to a computer system after being accused of hacking Mettler's computer during the 2010 elections. A misdemeanor charge of illegally taking campaign information from Mettler's computer was dismissed. Defense attorney Seth O'Dell represented an absent Bertram in Kern County Superior Court Wednesday afternoon. He will serve three years informal probation, meaning he doesn't have a probation officer but periodically checks in with officials, under the deal. "His mind did not change with regards to the original charge," O'Dell said. "He made a mistake in the way he dealt with the investigation and he takes full responsibility for that." Though Bertram told The Californian last October that he did, in fact, release campaign documents and emails taken from Mettler's computer, Bertram maintained he did not commit a crime. "So I did give the information to the media," Bertram said in an October email to the newspaper. "If I had it to do over I would do the same thing. If I have to pay a price for it, I'll take my lumps." He did admit lying to investigators from the Kern County Sheriff's Department about the incident. The documents and emails, which were leaked to the media in April 2010, indicated that Mettler had recruited Shannon Holloway to join him and Shannon Grove in last year's 32nd District GOP primary to confuse voters who may have intended to vote for Grove. Grove won the race easily and currently holds the Assembly seat. Bertram, who continued his campaign for the Ward 7 City Council seat after being charged, was defeated by Russell Johnson. Mettler said Bertram, an information technology specialist, had volunteered to build a website for Mettler's campaign in 2009, which was how Bertram later accessed the information. The scandal shook up local elections and rattled the ranks of the Republican Assembly of Kern County, of which Bertram and Mettler were both leaders. Mettler said he's glad the case didn't require a jury trial. "Why waste more taxpayers' money on this matter?" he said. "Enough has been spent." O'Dell said the fact the proceedings took months to play out "didn't have to do with the parties to the case." Rather, he said delays in receiving documentary evidence from third parties, among other logistical factors, contributed to the length of the case. Deputy District Attorney Joseph Marcano, who said in October he didn't believe the case would resolve without a jury trial, said he was satisfied with the result. "It was a fair and just resolution," he said. O'Dell said Bertram did not want to speak to media. ___ (c)2011 The Bakersfield Californian (Bakersfield, Calif.) Visit The Bakersfield Californian (Bakersfield, Calif.) at www.bakersfield.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]