Spammer Gets 30 Months In Jail

A persistent spammer has been sentenced to 30 months in jail and given a $180,000 fine for his efforts.

27-year-old Adam Vitale has a little time to reflect on his spamming activities. 30 months of time, in fact; that’s how long he was given in jail by a New York court, in addition to a $180,000 fine.

Along with another man, Todd Moeller, Vitale sent 250,000 spam messages to over a million AOL e-mail addresses, according to Vnunet. They used a number of computers and changed mail headings to avoid AOL spam filters.

The duo was caught in a sting operation, under which they agreed to send out spam regarding a security product in exchange for half the profits. In November last year Moeller received a 27 month sentence.

Vitale, who has 22 previous convictions, apologized to the court and said he’d learned his lesson. But Judge Denny Chin wasn’t swayed.

"Spamming is serious criminal conduct; this is not a teenager engaging in child’s play," he said.