July 11, 2008 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- The sentencing of the 28-year-old "King of Spam" began on Friday in federal court, with a line of testifiers so long that it requires an unusual two-day hearing to wrap-up Monday. In March, Robert Soloway pled guilty to mail fraud, fraud in connection with electronic mail and willful failure to file return for sentencing in July, according to the US Attorney's Office.
"Spam is a scourge of the Internet, and Robert Soloway is one of its most prolific practitioners," said Jeffrey C. Sullivan, a United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington. "Our investigators dubbed him the "Spam King" because he is responsible for millions of spam emails."
Robert Alan Soloway, owner of Newport Internet Marketing Corporation, was arrested in Seattle in May 2007 after being indicted by a federal grand jury for mail fraud, wire fraud, fraud in connection with electronic mail, aggravated identity theft and money laundering, according to US government records.
Soloway's charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and fines of more than $500,000.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that the victims of Soloway's crimes were diverse, including a British businessman, a man from Oklahoma who never received a $10 million he won in a 2005 judgment against Soloway, FBI and private computer analysts and security experts, and Adam Sweaney, himself awaiting sentencing on federal spamming charges.
