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A Virginia jury's conviction Wednesday of a brother and sister in the nation's first felony prosecution of spammers is a landmark victory in the war against unwanted junk e-mail, industry experts said.
Jeremy Jaynes, considered one of the nation's biggest spammers, and Jessica DeGroot were found guilty of masking their return Internet addresses last summer to send thousands of bulk e-mail peddling software and stock picks to customers of America Online and other Internet service providers.
The 12-member jury recommended Jaynes, 30, be sentenced to nine years in a Virginia prison, and DeGroot, 28, be fined $7,500. Judge Thomas Horne is expected to sentence them next year.
A third defendant, Richard Rutowski, was acquitted. All three pleaded not guilty.
The convictions are the latest sign that government and industry crackdowns on spam are inching forward. A yearlong Justice Department cybersting netted 160 arrests, including dozens of spammers, in August. The FBI also is stepping up efforts. And Internet service providers, such as No. 1 AOL and EarthLink, are pressing more lawsuits to shut down spamming firms.
"This is very significant. Spam may not go away, but if you're caught, you will go to prison," Lisa Hicks-Thomas, Virginia's senior assistant attorney general, said of the verdict.
David Oblon, Jaynes' attorney, filed a motion to reverse the verdict � considered a long shot by legal experts. During the weeklong trial, defense attorneys claimed prosecutors presented circumstantial evidence not strong enough to convict their clients.
"I'm convinced that at the end of the day, my client will not be convicted of a crime in Virginia," Oblon said.
The trial was in Loudoun County Circuit Court because spam sent by Jaynes and DeGroot flowed through a computer server of AOL, which is in the county. Virginia is home to one of the nation's toughest anti-spam laws.
Computer evidence seized from Jaynes' Raleigh, N.C., home demonstrated he ran an elaborate spamming operation, prosecutors said. It included computer disks containing 84 million AOL e-mail addresses and e-mail logs on a personal computer indicating it was sending large volumes of e-mail.
Earlier this year, federal prosecutors in New York charged a former AOL engineer with stealing 92 million AOL screen names and selling them to a spammer.
Wednesday's convictions could prompt more indictments against spammers with operations in Virginia, where 80% of Internet traffic flows, security experts say. Hicks-Thomas says Virginia has indicted two other people in an alleged spam operation in Texas.
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2004-11-04, 01:04 PM
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