Court rejects appeal of Iowa City woman convicted of accessing Obama’s loan records

DAVENPORT – A federal court has rejected the appeal of an Iowa City woman who was convicted of illegally accessing President Barack Obama's student loan records while he was a running for office in 2008.

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Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that prosecutors had gathered sufficient evidence to convict 54-year-old Sandra Teague for exceeding authorized computer access while an employee at Vangent in Coralville.

The court also said the district court was justified in denying Teague funding to obtain a computer expert witness, because Teague failed to show the witness would aid her defense.

The former Department of Education contract employee was one of nine people convicted of looking at President Obama's records, and she was lone defendant to plead guilty.

Teague was found guilty in August 2010 and sentenced to two years probation – one year longer than the other eight defendants accused of the same crime.  She had contested that someone stole her identification and password to access the president's records.