Wired.com reports that Shane Anderson, “list dad” of the MacEvangelist mailing list, was released from a Waterloo, Iowa jail after pleading no contest to charges that he broke into and tampered with a computer belonging to a business partner.

Anderson sent a note to subscribers of his list, saying he is not guilty of the charges, despite the no contest plea. “The alternative was to spend up to 9 months (3 months bare minimum) in jail awaiting a trial,” he wrote. “I was not prepared to waste 9 months of my life on a very minor criminal charge, especially when I am innocent.”

[ad#In-article banner]

In hist post, Anderson asked subscribers for donations to a “legal/getting-Shane-back-on-his-feet fund.”

“I have been truly shipwrecked by this episode and I have huge and mounting legal costs which I must pay,” he wrote. “I have immediate pressing needs as urgent as today, and really I need to raise about $6500.”

Anderson provided information for his bank account, a PayPal account and his mailing address. He also published his phone number and invited subscribers to call him directly promising to read police interview transcripts to anyone who was interested.

“I hope this does not come across as tacky. Being incarcerated for 4 weeks really smacks your life on hold, and I would never send you an email like this unless I really had no where else to turn. I know I can rely on you.”

The Wired article is available on the publication’s website.