The 53-year-old Mendte remains on federal probation after serving six months home confinement. He admitted in 2008 that he obsessively hacked into former KYW-TV co-anchor Alycia Lane's e-mails and leaked private information to the press.
Mendte is now working for WPIX-TV in New York, a CW network affiliate.
Mendte tried to vacate his plea or sentence on effective-counsel grounds. He complained his lawyer failed to negotiate a misdemeanor plea.
But U.S. District Judge Mary McLaughlin ruled Thursday that Mendte knowingly pleaded guilty to a felony.
The married Mendte called his early relationship with Lane "flirtatious" and "improper." Lane denied any impropriety.
