'Spam King' Pleads Guilty of Felony Fraud
Man reportedly made $300,000 in junk-mail operation.
By: Justin Bourne
Posted: 03/17/2008
SEATTLE - Robert Soloway, called the "spam
king" by federal prosecutors, has pleaded guilty of felony mail fraud, fraud in
connection with electronic mail and failing to file a tax return in 2005.
Soloway, 28, reportedly made $300,000 in 2005 through his junk-mail
operation by sending millions of unsolicited emails worldwide.
In a hurried hearing on Friday, Soloway appeared before the U.S. District
Court in Seattle, where he is scheduled to go on trial in two weeks for a
40-count indictment that includes seven counts of aggravated identity theft -
which carries a mandatory two-year prison sentence to be added to any other
sentence - and 13 counts of money laundering.
In exchange for Soloway's guilty pleas, federal prosecutors dropped all but
one of the spam-related charges contained within the indictment.
However, Soloway still faces up to 20 years in prison for the more serious
charge of non-electronic mail fraud, which originates from unfulfilled guarantees
surrounding email-marketing software.
The charge of electronic-mail fraud is punishable by up to five years in
prison, and the misdemeanor tax charge carries a maximum sentence of one year.
Soloway and his business may be fined as much as $625,000.
Both sides of the case chose U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Penchman to
decide Soloway's prison sentence and the amount of restitution he may be
ordered to pay, based on the number of victims.
"We believe that there were extensive losses to thousands of victims," Assistant
U.S. Attorney Kathryn Warma told The Seattle Times.
Soloway's attorney, Richard Troberman, said the government's dismissal of 37
counts, including all of the identity-theft cases, illustrates that the case "turned
out to be very different from was originally charged."
"We feel that when it comes time for sentencing, we like our chances," he
said.
Federal prosecutors said Soloway defrauded customers who paid him to send
out high volumes of commercial e-mail or bought his software to send spam
themselves, according to The Seattle
Times. Customers reportedly could enlist Soloway to send emails to 20
million addresses for 15 days or sell them 80,000 email addresses for $495.
Early reports accused Soloway of sending penis-enhancement ads and
pornography through his company's servers, but the accusation was found to be false
after the federal government examined the severs operated by Newport Internet
Marketing, Troberman said.
Warma said the government still believes Soloway is responsible for some of
those acts and intends to present evidence to Pechman at Soloway's sentencing
on June 20.
Soloway also is named in a default judgment of more than $10 million in Oklahoma and owes Microsoft as a result of another
judgment.
