A tentative plea bargain has been reached between federal prosecutors and a former America Online engineer accused of stealing over 92 million email addresses and selling them to spammers, according to news wire reports late December 20.
Authorities believe the email list is still in circulation, over a year after Jason Smathers is said to have stolen and sold it to Las Vegas spammer Sean Dunaway for over $100,000.
Smathers is believed to have agreed to plead guilty to violating the CAN-SPAM Act in exchange for a fine and up to two years behind bars, according to early published reports, pending final approval by a federal judge. Smathers was expected to appear in federal court in New York December 21.
Dunaway, whom authorities say used the list to flush gambling spam to AOL subscribers, sold the list in turn to other spammers who used it to push porn, jewelry, prescription medication, and other goods and services.
Neither Smathers, his attorney Faith Friedman, nor federal prosecutors commented on the plea deal before the court session was to take place.
The case began to crystallize when AOL investigators found emails between Smathers and Dunaway on Smathers’ company-owned laptop, and when one of those who bought the list from Dunaway revealed the original theft to authorities after being prosecuted as a spammer.
Author Brian McWilliams, who wrote a new book about spammers, Spam King, told reporters AOL subscribers are particular favorite spam targets because spammers tend to believe they’re unsophisticated Internet newcomers whom one spammer compared to hunted deer. “They tend to be… perhaps more naïve and gullible, so they’re very desired customers,” McWilliams described the attitude.
