Siblings convicted in first felony spam case
A brother and sister who sent junk e-mail to millions of America Online customers were convicted Wednesday in the nation's first felony prosecution of Internet spam distributors.
Jurors recommended that Jeremy Jaynes be sentenced to nine years in prison and fined Jessica DeGroot $7,500 after convicting them of three counts each of sending e-mails with fraudulent and untraceable routing information.
A third defendant, Richard Rutkowski, 30, was acquitted of similar charges.
The judge was still considering a motion from defense attorneys to set aside the verdict and will hear arguments on it a later date. He had said previously that he had reservations about allowing the case against DeGroot and Rutkowski to go to a jury.
Virginia, where AOL is based, prosecuted the case under a law that took effect last year barring people from sending bulk e-mail that is unsolicited and masks its origin.
Prosecutors said Jaynes, 30, and DeGroot, 28, who live in the Raleigh, North Carolina, area, used the Internet to peddle sham products and services such as a "FedEx refund processor."