Jason Smathers, 24, from West Virginia, was arrested in June
2004 and charged with the theft and sale of the names to spammer
Sean Dunaway, 21, from Las Vegas.
Dunaway, according to prosecutors, used the e-mail addresses to
market his internet gambling business and then sold the original
list on to other internet marketers for up to $52,000. He allegedly
also sold an updated but smaller list for $32,500.
This is the second time that Smathers has pleaded guilty to the
charges, which relate to the interstate transportation of stolen
property, conspiracy and breaches of the CAN-SPAM law – a
much-derided Act that came into force in January 2004, targeting
deceptive spam messages.
In December, Smathers reached a plea agreement with prosecutors,
but Judge Alvin K Hellerstein of the US District Court for the
Southern District of New York refused to accept the part of the
plea relating to the CAN-SPAM Act, querying whether Smathers'
actions were actually deceptive to recipients of the e-mail
messages, as required to constitute an offence under the Act.
The Judge has now been satisfied that the CAN-SPAM Act was
breached, and on Friday accepted the plea.
According to the Associated Press, Smathers is likely to face
between 18 months and two years in prison, and a fine of between
$200,000 and $400,000 in restitution of AOL's losses.
Sentencing will take place in May.
