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First US Spam Conviction


A man was convicted in a Virginia court on Wednesday of sending AOL users millions of unsolicited emails using fraudulent email address is facing nine years in prison after becoming the first person to be convicted under new anti-spam laws.

Jeremy Jaynes, 30, and his sister Jessica DeGroot, 28, both of Raleigh, North Carolina, were found guilty of three felony charges each for using fake email address to send out tens of thousands of unsolicited commercial emails through an AOL server in Loudoun County, Virginia.

A jury recommended Jeremy Jaynes, 30, be sentenced to nine years' jail. His sister, Jessica DeGroot, was fined 7,500 dollars for three convictions each of sending emails with fraudulent and untraceable routing information.

"This is a major victory for Virginians and all Americans," Virginia Attorney-General Jerry Kilgor said. "Spam is a nuisance to millions of Americans, but it is also a major problem for businesses large and small because the thousands of unwanted emails create havoc as they attempt to conduct commerce.”

Spam messages are estimated to account for at least 50% of all e-mails sent.





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