Search Engine Journal

Spammer Convicted to Nine Years in Prison

Yesterday the first two spammers ever were convicted of a felony for sending fraudulent unsolicited commercial e-mail - spam. Jeremy Jaynes and Jessica DeGroot, a brother and sister team, were convicted in a Virginia court Wednesday of sending AOL users millions of unsolicited commercial e-mail messages while evading AOL’s filters. DMNews report that jurors recommended that Jaynes receive nine years in prison and fined DeGroot $7,500.

DeGroot was convicted because prosecutors proved the domain names used for sending the spam had been purchased on her credit card. A third defendant, Richard Rutkowski, was acquitted of similar charges. Formal sentencing has been set for February next year.

Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore called the convictions a victory in the fight against spam. “This is a major victory for Virginians and all Americans,” Kilgore said. “Spam is a nuisance to millions of Americans, but it is also a major problem for businesses large and small because the thousands of unwanted e-mails create havoc as they attempt to conduct commerce.”

Jaynes and DeGroot were spamming AOL members with get rich opportunities and work from home offers such as being a ‘FedEx refund processor,’ which they claimed would allow people to earn $75 an hour working from home. According to evidence, Jaynes received 10,000 credit card orders, each for $39.95, during a one month period. Instead of this spammer sitting at home stuffing FedEx envelopes, he’ll probably be behind bars next year, where he belongs. Hopefully, with no access to a computer.