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Former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks and her husband, Charlie, will be charged with the dastardly sounding offense of "perverting the course of justice" during the investigation of News Corp's. still ongoing phone hacking scandal. Five other News International employees will also be charged over attempts to delete emails and destroy other evidence after finding out they were being targeted by Metropolitan police. Together, they will be the first people to formally face criminal charges after more than 18 months of police and parliamentary investigations, proving once again that the cover up is always worse than the crime itself.

In a statement released after learning of the charges, the Brooks' said "We deplore this weak and unjust decision" and accused authorities of "posturing." The maximum sentence possible for the charges is life in prison, but those who are convicted typically face around three years of jail time.

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