Spammer Arrested and Charged With Fraud

[-Slap-]

I would love to see them convict this creep and impose a meaningful sentence upon him.

Spammer Arrested and Charged With Fraud

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEATTLE, May 31 (AP) — A 27-year-old man described as one of the world’s most prolific spammers was arrested Wednesday, and federal authorities said computer users across the Web might notice a decrease in junk e-mail.

The man, Robert Alan Soloway, is accused of using networks of compromised “zombie” computers to send out millions upon millions of pieces of spam.

“He’s one of the top 10 spammers in the world,” said Tim Cranton, senior director for worldwide Internet safety programs for Microsoft. “He’s a huge problem for our customers. This is a very good day.”

Last week, a federal grand jury returned a 35-count indictment against Mr. Soloway charging him with mail fraud, wire fraud, e-mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. He pleaded not guilty Wednesday afternoon to all charges after a judge determined that even with four bank accounts seized by the government he was sufficiently well off to pay for his own lawyer. He was detained pending a hearing on Monday.

Mr. Soloway has been living in an expensive apartment in Seattle and drives a Mercedes convertible, said the prosecutor, Kathryn Warma. Prosecutors are seeking to have him forfeit $773,000 they say he made from his business, Newport Internet Marketing.

A public defender who represented him for Wednesday’s hearing declined to comment.

Prosecutors say Mr. Soloway used computers infected with malicious code to send out millions of pieces of spam since 2003. The computers are called “zombies” because owners typically have no idea their machines have been infected.

He continued his activities even after Microsoft won a $7 million civil judgment against him in 2005 and the operator of a small Internet service provider in Oklahoma won a $10 million judgment, prosecutors said.

Jeffrey C. Sullivan, the United States attorney for Western Washington, said the case was the first in the country in which federal prosecutors used identity theft statutes to prosecute a spammer for taking over someone else’s Internet domain name.

The investigation began when the authorities began receiving hundreds of complaints about Mr. Soloway, who had been featured on a list of known spammers kept by the Spamhaus Project, an international anti-spam organization.

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

[DeusExManning]

Death penalty!

[Atlas]

I need to get me a gig like that. He ain't gonna get **** for time and he is a millionaire. I'd spend 3 years in jail for $10 million

[BroncoInSkinland]

At least we figured out what happened to mock.

[Los Broncos]

I seen this yesterday and was going to post it. Looks ill be getting a few less spams.