A Florida man who hijacked BellSouth Internet subscriber accounts to send millions of spam messages in 2002 has been sentenced to a year in prison, six years probation, and banned from owning, leasing, or using a computer or the Internet while on probation.
Charles Frye of Daytona Beach pleaded guilty last June to intellectual property and computer fraud, BellSouth said March 1. The Internet service provider based in Atlanta also vowed to continue pushing to prosecute Internet criminals.
"This ruling is a true triumph for our customers," said BellSouth vice president for Internet service operations Richard Burns in an announcement. "BellSouth will continue to assist and cooperate with law enforcement officials who prosecute Internet offenders. We are committed to protecting our customers, and will work to provide them with the highest quality Internet experience."
Frye had pleaded guilty in a Florida court in a case that involved cracking user pass codes and hijacking BellSouth subscriber accounts to send large amounts of spam, BellSouth said, though the ISP didn’t say exactly how many spam messages Frye had sent after those hijacks.
Frye was also ordered to pay restitution to BellSouth following his release from prison.
