TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Former AOL Employee Pleads Guilty in Spam Case

Former AOL Employee Pleads Guilty in Spam Case

Lisa Minter (lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com)
07 Feb 2005 09:23:25 -0800

Jason Smathers, 24, admitted to conspiracy and interstate trafficking
of stolen property, charges that could carry a maximum prison sentence
of 24 months under federal guidelines.

The federal case charged that Smathers, of Harpers Ferry,
West Virginia, stole the screen names from AOL, a Time Warner
Inc. unit, and sold it to an Internet marketer.

The marketer paid $28,000 for the names, then allegedly used them
to promote his online gambling operation while also selling them to
other spammers, according to prosecutors.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who last year refused to accept
the guilty plea because he had a "technical" question, set a
sentencing date of May 20.

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