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Spam King Escapes From Federal Prison

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the must-have-hurt dept.

Bobfrankly1 writes "The FBI, IRS, and the Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force are helping the US Marshals search for escaped 'Spam King' Edward 'Eddie' Davidson. He apparently jumped in a car with his wife, changed clothes at home, and hasn't been seen since." Update: 07/24 22:20 GMT by T : It seems that Davidson has been found, victim of a murder-suicide which also left two others dead.

16 of 596 comments (clear)

  1. What to do next? by neapolitan · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Really, really bad move. Now, instead of two years at summer camp, he will go to many more years of Federal Pound-me-in-the-a$$ Prison. It is really, really hard in today's day and age to avoid being captured, even with a lot of money if you want to live at some decent level. His best bet I think is to go to a foreign country where he could blend in, and live inconspicuously.

    Even in some place like Mexico he would be quite a stand out if he flashed cash, and in the US you'd ultimately fall temptation to going to the local drugstore and risk being nabbed on camera. Any lawyers know if there are any countries which would absolutely refuse extradition? If so, he would still need to 1) get there and 2) transfer enough money to survive, and much more if he couldn't work.

    Interestingly enough, I think the next play depends on how many resources the US government will put into capturing him and raising awareness among people. A stint on "Dateline" or widely watched / read program would help any possible acquaintances turn him in.

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    1. Re:What to do next? by Westech · · Score: 4, Interesting

      He probably transferred a chunk of money into a country without an extradition treaty way before he got caught. He had a ton of money floating around before he was busted. It only makes sense that he set up an escape plan in case the spam hit the fan.

    2. Re:What to do next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Real hard to avoid capture these days, is it?

      Mind telling me where Osama bin Laden is hiding out to then? For a 6+ foot guy on kidney dialysis he should be easy enough to find, especially considering your logic.

      So how come he hasn't been captured?

    3. Re:What to do next? by Duncan+Blackthorne · · Score: 3, Interesting

      He's probably been learning Russian. I'm sure they'd greet him with a heroes' welcome and offer him a high-paying job with their organization, considering his "street cred".

    4. Re:What to do next? by afidel · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Brazil has no extradition treaty with the US, however for high profile targets they have been known to negotiate with the state department and turned people over for certain considerations.

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    5. Re:What to do next? by 3waygeek · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Actually, it's quite constitutional. For the punishment to be unconstitutional, it has to be both cruel and unusual. Five years of assrape may be cruel, but if every man convicted of a certain crime were given that sentence, it wouldn't be unusual.

      There have been court decisions in the past that make clear mention of the fact that the phrase "cruel and unusual" is explicitly a Boolean AND; however, as far as I know, none of these decisions specifically relate to assrape.

    6. Re:What to do next? by T.E.D. · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It's one of the sickest little bits of our culture that prison rape jokes aren't considered offensive.

      Actually, its male rape in general. If you watch a lot of B movies, like I do, you may notice a recent trend toward depicting male rape as humorous events, eg: in road trip comedies. I laughed too at the first two or three I saw, but then it started to get more than a little disturbing.

  2. 21 months? by b96miata · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Who the hell runs from a 2 year bid at a club fed?

  3. Heh by db32 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I wonder if they will start taking this more seriously and treating these people like criminals. I mean really...guy steals some property and can get years in a place a little more harsh than this dorm style prison. This guy stole bandwidth, and while it is an intangible thing, ultimately the total cost of his crap cost people FAR more than the value of the crap you could carry out of a pawn shop. I vote send his ass to a real prison.

    From the comments from the article (because I know most of you won't read it, and I'm not going to take credit for it). "One can only hope his punishment will be unsolicited male."

    --
    The only change I can believe in is what I find in my couch cushions.
    1. Re:Heh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      What makes people so sure this guy won't be *doing* the pounding?

      (Not a response to you in particular, but in general)

  4. more jail time, higher security by saintsfan · · Score: 4, Interesting

    he had 21 months for "spam". when they catch him, he'll face new charges for breaking out of prison. in addition, "When they were leaving, he forced her in the car" is that kidnapping? from minimum security "dormitories" to something a little rougher i imagine. bad move

  5. You gotta hand it to those Federal Corrections off by mmell · · Score: 3, Interesting
    icers . . . (SSLR)

    It's not like this guy got together with his fellow inmates and dug three tunnels named "Tom", "Dick" and "Harry", or sewed civilian clothes from blankets dyed in pen ink. This guy didn't even have a stealth chopper land in the prison courtyard to whisk him to freedom, or have a small mercenary force sieze the prison and take him out by force. No - this guy gets in a car with his wife, drives off and changes into a fresh set of civvies. I wonder if the prison officials gave him $20.00 as he left the prison, or considered giving him a suit of clothes themselves?

  6. Re:Editors by Malevolyn · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Cue the 400 posts arguing whether or not "Internet" should be capitalized.

    Nope.

    Also, I'm more interested in there being a Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force and why they think a geek like Edward Davidson is really a danger to the public.

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  7. who sanctions prison rape by mi · · Score: 2, Interesting

    People talk about "inhumane" prison systems such as those in Iran (they cut your hands off!) or Saudi Arabia (they have public hangings and beheadings!) but we have gang-rape that is basically sanctioned by the state.

    These aren't state-sanctioned. At all. The ass-holes (pun intended), who "sanction" it are the prison guards — represented and defended by very powerful trade-union, whom even the toughest politicians are wary of.

    Now cue-in the union-apologists, who go as far as claim credit for weekends for the unions (which existed, apparently, when Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays became holy days for different religions), and you have a complete picture.

    Compared to what these pigs do to civilian fellow Americans, the much-derided Guantanamo, where Military is holding enemy combatants, is, indeed, more like a piece of Caribbean paradise...

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
  8. Re:Editors by DAldredge · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Wired as a source. How far my beloved /. has fallen.

  9. murder-suicide???!!! by e_hu_man · · Score: 4, Interesting

    wow, i'm disappointed in slashdot. 2 hours since the posting that this guy was a victim of a murder-suicide and not a single post acknowledging it.

    i mean, i hate spam, but i'm not about to wish the do-er of the deed dead.