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Spammer Faces Decades In Prison For Sending More Than 1 Million Spam Emails (suntimes.com)

mi quotes a report from Chicago Sun-Times: A man has been indicted on federal fraud charges for allegedly sending more than a million spam emails. The indictment charges 36-year-old Michael Persaud of Scottsdale, Arizona, with 10 counts of wire fraud and seeks the forfeiture of four computers, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office. The indictment was returned Dec. 9, 2016, and was unsealed after Persaud was arrested last month in Arizona. Between 2012 and 2015, Persaud used multiple IP addresses and domains to send spam emails over at least nine networks, including several servers in Chicago, according to the indictment. He sent more than a million spam emails to people in the U.S. and abroad, using false names to register domains and creating fraudulent "from address" fields to conceal the fact that he was the one sending the emails. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
mi leaves us with some rather unpleasant imagery, writing: "Personally, I wish [the sentence] carried removal of 1 square millimeter of skin for each message instead."

7 of 146 comments (clear)

  1. Good! by nospam007 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A good beginning.

  2. As much as I loathe spammers... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    the punishment is a way too excessive.
    Locking people up and throwing away the keys like this should be reserved for murderers, rapists, arsonists, robbers, burglars, politicians, Madoff types, and maybe a handful of others.
    This is just wasting jail space, costing us money, and destroying lives.

    1. Re:As much as I loathe spammers... by ClickOnThis · · Score: 4, Insightful

      the punishment is a way too excessive.
      Locking people up and throwing away the keys like this should be reserved for murderers, rapists, arsonists, robbers, burglars, politicians, Madoff types, and maybe a handful of others.
      This is just wasting jail space, costing us money, and destroying lives.

      TFA is quite light on details, and let's remind ourselves that the trial hasn't happened yet. Nevertheless, he may very well be a "Madoff-type." If the defendant was complicit in perpetrating (e-)mail fraud, with the result that people were bilked out of money, then hard time is appropriate.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
  3. Re:Maybe I'm getting old... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

    his sentence should roughly equal the number human hours he has wasted.

    No it shouldn't. The "lock em' up" mentality is why America has more than four times the incarceration rate of either China or Russia, and an even more disproportionate rate compared to almost any other country. Prison should be used to isolate irredeemably violent people from civilized society. For everyone else, there are better alternative punishments. For instance, this guy could be sentenced to spend 60 hours per week cleaning bedpans at a nursing home for the next 10 years, or some other suitable punishment where he can contribute to society rather than being a drain.

  4. Re: Maybe I'm getting old... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    And who pays for his survival while he is doing his good deeds. You are clueless as the rest.

  5. I don't get US sentencing... by Morpeth · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A privileged college students gets caught in the act (by two other students) raping an unconscious woman, and gets out in what, 3 months? Spammers are annoying obviously, but decades for that...? I just don't get it.

    --

    'The unexamined life is not worth living' - Socrates
  6. Re: !Good by ferret4 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's funny 'cause it's rape!