Prometheus 6

"Spam king" pleads guilty to felony fraud
By Mike Carter
Seattle Times staff reporter

Robert Soloway, crowned the "spam king" by federal prosecutors for having sent millions of unwanted e-mails around the globe, pleaded guilty Friday to felony mail fraud, fraud in connection with electronic mail and failing to file a tax return in 2005, the year he made at least $300,000 through his junk e-mail business.

Soloway appeared at a hastily scheduled hearing in U.S. District Court in Seattle, where he was set to go to trial in two weeks on a 40-count indictment that included seven counts of aggravated identity theft — which carries a mandatory two-year prison sentence added on to any other sentence — and 13 counts of money laundering.

However, federal prosecutors dropped all of those charges — some of which had been filed under an admittedly "novel" reading of the identity-theft statute — and all but one of the spam-related charges in exchange for Soloway's guilty pleas. Indeed, the most serious charge Soloway now faces deals not with spam but with nonelectronic mail fraud stemming from his failure to live up to promises he made regarding his e-mail-marketing software.

That charge carries up to a 20-year prison sentence. The electronic-mail fraud charge is punishable by up to five years in prison. The tax charge is a misdemeanor and carries a maximum one-year sentence.

The law also allows for fines against Soloway and his business of up to $625,000 on all charges. Both sides agreed to let U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman determine not just the amount of prison time Soloway, 28, might serve but also the number of his victims, the size of any fine and the amount of restitution he may be ordered to pay.

"We believe that there were extensive losses to thousands of victims," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Warma.