Spammer Jailed For Four Years

Robert Soloway, the man dubbed the Spam King and described by Microsoft as one of the top ten spammers in the world has been jailed for 47 months for his crimes.

Soloway was arrested on May 30, 2007 following his indictment on on 37 counts including charges of identity theft, money laundering, and mail, wire, and e-mail fraud. Soloway is responsible for sending millions of spam emails through his company, Newport Internet Marketing from 2003 to early in 2008.

The Spam King advertised that his company could send massive numbers of emails to addresses he claimed were on an opt-in list, however those receiving the spam had not given Soloway permission to send them mail.

A deal was made in March of this year whereby Soloway pleaded guilty to three charges; felony mail fraud, fraud in connection with e-mail, and failing to file for tax returns in 2005. All other charges were dropped although prosecutors wanted to seize over $700,000 that he had earned over the years of spamming.

According to a VNUnet report, Soloway admitted to using a spamming utility called Dark Mailer to send more than 50,000 emails an hour. As has been the case with other spammers, Dark Mailer altered the headers of the emails in order to make them look like they came from reputable sources and deceive spam filters.

Mr Soloway’s defense team allegedly argued for leniency because he had never advertised pornography or tried to spread malicious software.

Soloway will serve three years probation in addition to his four year sentence as well as 200 hours of community service.

The case comes just days after the news that another notorious spammer, Eddie Davidson, escaped from a minimum security prison. Davidson allegedly jumped into his wife’s car following a routine visit last Sunday. It is unclear which of the two drove home where Davidson changed his clothes and then disappeared.