Internet Law
‘Spam King’ Gets 4 Years in Unusual Case
Posted Jul 24, 2008, 11:32 am CDT
By Martha Neil
Updated: So-called spam king Robert Soloway was sentenced this week to 47 months in prison by a federal judge in Seattle, for sending out a slew of fraudulent e-mail messages over the Internet.
His case, under the Can-Spam Act, is only the second time that an offender has been sentenced under the statute, reports the Post-Intelligencer. "Soloway sent more than 90 million e-mails in just three months through two servers," the newspaper writes.
Prosecutors had sought a nine-year prison sentence and defense counsel asked for two years in federal a prison camp. Soloway pleaded guilty in March to one count of e-mail fraud, one count of mail fraud and one count of tax evasion.
Soloway attributed his crimes to a desire to live the luxe life and an optimistic view that a "loophole" could be found in the law that he was violating, providing an escape route from potential prosecution. An apparent shopoholic, he had 24 pairs of sunglasses, with a retail value of $3,724, and 27 pairs of shoes, accounting for another $7,412, in his upscale apartment when it was searched by federal agents.
Said U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman: "Mr. Soloway went into his bedroom at age 11, turned on his computer and that froze him in time in terms of social development."
Related coverage:
Scientific American: "A Tale of Two 'Spam Kings' "
ABAJournal.com: "Accused ‘Spam King’ Arrested"
Updated at 12:50 p.m., central time, to include Scientific American article.
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