A woman who was convicted of computer fraud in an Internet hoax that led to the suicide of 13-year-old girl was tentatively acquitted Thursday by a federal judge.

Lori Drew, 50, drew national scorn after it was revealed that she helped create a fictional boy on MySpace to befriend the girl and pump her for information about her on-again-off-again friendship with Drew's daughter.

Megan Meier, who was being treated for depression, hanged herself in 2006 after the fictitious boyfriend dumped her and told the Missouri girl that "the world would be a better place without you."

In November 2008, jurors convicted her on three misdemeanor counts of illegally accessing a protected computer. Judge George Wu said his decision to reverse the verdict is tentative and will not become final until he issues a written ruling. Prosecutors had urged the judge to send Drew to federal prison for three years.