May 28, 2004 : Buffalo Spammer Sentenced

📅 May 28, 2004 - A New York man was sentenced three-and-a-half to seven years in prison for sending out millions of "spam" emails, the state attorney general's office said Thursday. Howard Carmack, known as the "Buffalo Spammer," received the maximum sentence for 14 counts of identity theft and forgery.

Carmack sent out 825 million bulk email messages under stolen identities and forged addresses, the court found, and was the first defendant to face charges under the state's new identity-theft statute.
Found guilty in April, Carmack's forgery conviction brought the longest sentence, while his other convictions drew shorter sentences of one year to four years. The sentences will be served concurrently, and Carmack could be out in three-and-a-half should he behave in prison.
Internet provider Earthlink, which testified in the criminal trial, won a $16.5 million judgement against carmack last year. "We're satisfied that today's sentencing sends a strong message to spammers, and EarthLink will continue to investigate spammers and work with law enforcement," said EarthLink assistant general counsel Karen Cashion.