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Story URL: http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/thespamreport/0,39025001,39119752,00.htm

Buffalo Spammer looking at seven years in jail
825 million messages and one $16.5m judgement later...

By Reuters

Published: Friday 02 April 2004

A New York man who sent out millions of spam emails faces up to seven years in prison after he was found guilty of identity theft and forgery charges, the state attorney general's office said on Thursday.

Howard Carmack, known as the "Buffalo Spammer," was found guilty by a Buffalo jury on 14 counts of identity theft and forgery, a spokesman for New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said.

Carmack sent out 825 million bulk email messages using stolen identities and forged addresses, the state charged.

Carmack was the first defendant to face charges under the state's new identity-theft statute, Spitzer's office said.

Carmack faces a prison sentence of three-and-a-half years to seven years, Spitzer spokesman Brad Maione said. He will be held in Erie County jail until his sentencing on 27 May, he added.

Internet provider EarthLink won a $16.5m judgment against Carmack last year. EarthLink officials testified in the criminal trial as well, the company said.

Unwanted bulk messages now account for roughly 60 percent of all email traffic, according to filtering company Brightmail.

Many of Carmack's alleged activities are illegal under a national anti-spam law that took effect in January, seven months after he was charged.