N.C. spammer sentenced to nine years.

[Tokarev]

N.C. spammer sentenced to nine years

 

LEESBURG, Va. - A man convicted in the nation's first felony case against illegal spamming was sentenced to nine years in prison today for bombarding Internet users with millions of junk e-mails.

 

Prosecutors said Jeremy Jaynes used the Internet to peddle pornography and sham products and services such as a "FedEx refund processor," and at the time of his arrest was considered among the top 10 spammers in the world. Thousands of people fell for his e-mails, and prosecutors said Jaynes' operation grossed up to $750,000 per month.

 

Jaynes, 30, was convicted in November for using false Internet addresses and aliases to send mass e-mail ads through an AOL server in Loudoun County, where America Online is based. Under Virginia law, sending unsolicited bulk e-mail itself is not a crime unless the sender masks his identity.

 

The judge delayed the start of the prison term while the case is appealed. Loudoun County Circuit Judge Thomas Horne said that because the law targeting junk e-mail is new and raises constitutional questions, it was appropriate to defer prison time until appeals courts rule. A jury had recommended the nine-year term for the North Carolina man.

 

Prosecutor Lisa Hicks-Thomas said she was pleased with the ruling and confident that the law would be upheld on appeal.

 

But defense attorney David Oblon argued that nine years was far too long given that Jaynes was charged as an out-of-state resident with violating a Virginia law that had taken effect just weeks before.

 

"We have no doubt that we will win on appeal, therefore any sentence is somewhat moot. Still, the sentence is not what we recommended and we're disappointed," Oblon said outside court.

 

Jaynes told the judge that regardless of how the appeal turns out, "I can guarantee the court I will not be involved in the e-mail marketing business again." He remains under $1 million bond.

 

The jury also convicted Jaynes's sister, Jessica DeGroot, but recommended only a $7,500 fine. Her conviction was later dismissed by the judge. A third defendant, Richard Rutkowski of Cary, N.C., was acquitted of all charges.

[Mex]

Nine years? Wow, thats a long time just for spamming. Anyways it was the idiots who fell for its fault that he actually made that money.

[Boba Rhett]

750k a month?

 

 

 

I hope there's some burly guys in there that were scammed by him. It would help if they liked to cuddle too.

[Tyrion]

Originally posted by Boba Rhett

I hope there's some burly guys in there that were scammed by him. It would help if they liked to cuddle too.

 

I would actually prefer it if they liked long, hard, monkey-man sex.

[lukeiamyourdad]

I think it's a bit too much. Some people who do worse crimes get less.

[Astrotoy7]

i wont make any more jail-man-sex comments

 

If this dude got 9 years, what the hell are we gonna do with Zbomber, whose post count is a subject of wonder, puzzlement and scorn?

 

mtfbwya

[Tyrion]

Originally posted by Astrotoy7

i wont make any more jail-man-sex comments but if this dude got 9 years, what the hell are we gonna do with Zbomber ?

 

mtfbwya

 

Solitary Confinement for life; if we let Zed run wild within a prison we would easily be breaking more human-rights treaties than currently exist.

[Rogue15]

that sucks. i hope he escapes.

[Crow_Nest]

Originally posted by Tokarev

N.C. spammer sentenced to nine years

 

LEESBURG, Va. - A man convicted in the nation's first felony case against illegal spamming was sentenced to nine years in prison today for bombarding Internet users with millions of junk e-mails.

 

Prosecutors said Jeremy Jaynes used the Internet to peddle pornography and sham products and services such as a "FedEx refund processor," and at the time of his arrest was considered among the top 10 spammers in the world. Thousands of people fell for his e-mails, and prosecutors said Jaynes' operation grossed up to $750,000 per month.

 

Jaynes, 30, was convicted in November for using false Internet addresses and aliases to send mass e-mail ads through an AOL server in Loudoun County, where America Online is based. Under Virginia law, sending unsolicited bulk e-mail itself is not a crime unless the sender masks his identity.

 

The judge delayed the start of the prison term while the case is appealed. Loudoun County Circuit Judge Thomas Horne said that because the law targeting junk e-mail is new and raises constitutional questions, it was appropriate to defer prison time until appeals courts rule. A jury had recommended the nine-year term for the North Carolina man.

 

Prosecutor Lisa Hicks-Thomas said she was pleased with the ruling and confident that the law would be upheld on appeal.

 

But defense attorney David Oblon argued that nine years was far too long given that Jaynes was charged as an out-of-state resident with violating a Virginia law that had taken effect just weeks before.

 

"We have no doubt that we will win on appeal, therefore any sentence is somewhat moot. Still, the sentence is not what we recommended and we're disappointed," Oblon said outside court.

 

Jaynes told the judge that regardless of how the appeal turns out, "I can guarantee the court I will not be involved in the e-mail marketing business again." He remains under $1 million bond.

 

The jury also convicted Jaynes's sister, Jessica DeGroot, but recommended only a $7,500 fine. Her conviction was later dismissed by the judge. A third defendant, Richard Rutkowski of Cary, N.C., was acquitted of all charges.

 

HAHAHA.

 

pwnage They should arrest more of these people. My email box is getting spammed as we speak.

[LightNinja]

[ZBomber]

Originally posted by Tyrion

Solitary Confinement for life; if we let Zed run wild within a prison we would easily be breaking more human-rights treaties than currently exist.

 

But think of all the fun I'd have!

[Spider AL]

The reason the sentence is so long, was that he was making so much money. I'm sure it had an effect on his state's economy after a while.

 

I'm all in favour of long sentences for spammers. They cause so much bother to everyone.

[IG-64]

Because you just can't make big money annoying people and get away with it.

 

After this i'd say I like the legal system, but no, I don't like the legal system. Why? Because it lets greedy people ruin all the fun for non-greedy people. Which is why all our "playgrounds" these days are all plastic and "safe." Bring back see-saws and carousels dammit!

 

 

>_>

 

 

<_<

[swphreak]

I have no problem with the sentence. I think he should be used as a harsh example to other spammers. I just wish the government would actually do something about "spamming fax machines." I get all kinds of calls back at home but instead of it being a telemarketer... it's a fax! But since we don't have a fax machine, it just makes lots of weird noises. I kinda wish I could fax these fax machines disturbing images...

[Mike Windu]

Reminds me of the time I made a telemarketer hang up on ME.

 

Telemarketer " Hello, Mr. Windu, this is Amy. I'm calling because you recently made a purchase from one of our business associates in the past, and I am here to offer you over $200 in savings.

Me: "Uh... I didn't make any purchases..."

Telemarketer: "We have your name on our list."

Me: "Well... can you take me off the list?"

Telemarketer: "[silence] JESUS CHRIST!" *hangs up*

 

 

 

[Datheus]

Originally posted by Boba Rhett

750k a month?

 

I hope there's some burly guys in there that were scammed by him. It would help if they liked to cuddle too.

Originally posted by Boba Rhett

YAY! Letting someone drown right in front of you while you take pictures, simply because you have varying political views, is fun! Good job guys. You've completely restored my faith in humanity.

 

So lemme see if I understand this. Some guy sends you some emails, put him in jail and hope he's raped. But save Bush's life--despite the fact that many would disagree with you that their hatred is merely over "political views".

 

Honestly, where are your heads? Nine years? In a federal prison?

 

I sent some emails! I'm dangerous!

 

So what if he was pulling in 750k a month? Damaging to the economy? A lot of people earn far more than 750k a month. If you want throw that much of a tissy about it, fine him. Put him under house arrest, and ban him from use of computers. But 9 years in a federal prison?

 

You people would be singing a different song if the RIAA could put you in jail for 9 years. And this exactly what they want to do. Yeah, suddenly 9 years sounds pretty absurd when you realize it could be you, huh?

 

So why go after this one man? Do you think the companies care about him? Of course not. They'll just find some other idiot to do their dirty work. He wasn't advertising for them out of good will. They had a business contract with him. They knew exactly what they were doing.

 

Locking this guy up for nine years is an obvious demonstration of the complete lack of balls on behalf of the People. Why not start locking up some of these CEOs and business owners? You know, the people who are commiting real crimes? The people above him. The king-pins, the dons, the fat-cats

 

Oh, wait. No. They give plentiful donations of large sums of cash to these politicians, law makers, and judges. We don't want to lock them up. They are our benefactors!

 

The only reason this guy was locked away was because he didn't kiss enough cor-political ass with his 750k/mo.

 

Treat the disease, not the symptoms, people. Wake up.

 

Now, maybe he scammed people. Fair enough. But lock him up for those crimes. Not for spamming! Do you realize what kind of dangerous precedent that is? There is nothing new about computers! Everyone thinks we need all sorts of shiny new laws to cover the realm of the computer. We don't. Every law we already have in place covers anything someone could do. Did this man lie to people? Present false advertising? Literally steal their money? Guess what! We have laws for those crimes already! He's guilty of those crimes. Not "guilty" of "spamming".

[Sivy]

9 years is a bit harsh. a lot of people get far less for a lot worse.

yeah the guy broke the law and deserves to be punished. but it’s not like anybody was hurt. he just conned a lot of stupid people out of money.

 

 

i think the whole justice system needs to be reviewed.

i mean what’s the difference between attempted murder and murder? at least 20 years, maybe even 30 if you got a good lawyer.

 

so you got one guy who beats a person to a bloody pulp with a baseball bat and leaves them for dead. an ambulance arrives just in time and the person is taken to hospital and barely kept alive, although they are now brain damaged and paralysed for life.

 

then you got another guy who beats a person to a bloody pulp with a baseball bat and leaves them for dead. after a couple of hours, no one finds them and they finally die.

 

one of the baseball bat wielding maniacs is going to prison for 40 years, the other for 10-15 years.

Why? they both did the same thing, they both had the intent to kill. the only different is one of the victims was lucky (or unlucky) enough to live. doesn’t make sense to me.

[Lady Jedi]

When I saw this article on MSN, my first thought was, "Haha. OWNED!"

 

Now if they'd just get those damned child pornographers, and pedophiles....