Brother and Sister Convicted For Sending Spam E-Mails
A brother and sister who sent junk e-mail to millions of America Online customers were convicted last week in the nation's first felony prosecution of Internet spam distributors. Jurors recommended that Jeremy Jaynes, 30, be sentenced to nine years in prison and fined Jessica DeGroot, 28, $7,500 after convicting them of three counts each of sending e-mails with fraudulent and untraceable routing information. A third defendant, Richard Rut-kowski, 30, was acquitted after deliberations of 1 1/2 days. All three defendants live in the Raleigh, NorthCarolina, area. Prosecutors compared Jaynes and DeGroot to modern-day snake oil salesmen who use the Internet to peddle junk like a "FedEx refund processor" that supposedly allowed people to earn $75 an hour working from home. Prosecutors had asked the jury to impose a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for Jaynes, and to consider some amount of jail time for his sister, whom they acknowledged was less culpabale. Defense lawyers asked jurors to spare the defendants prison terms. David Oblon, representing Jaynes, argued that it was inappropriate for prosecutors to seek what he called an excessive punishment, given that this is the first prosecution under the Virginia law. He also noted that his client, a North Carolina resident, would have been unaware of the Virginia law. Oblon called the jury's recommendation of nine years in prison shocking. "Nine years is absolutely outrageous when you look at what we do to people convicted of crimes like robbery and rape," Oblon said. When Jaynes and DeGroot are formally sentenced in February, Circuit Court Judge Thomas Horne will have the option of reducing the jury's sentence or leaving it intact. He cannot increase it. Horne also has not yet ruled on an earlier motion asking that the cases be dismissed. He said during the trial that he had a hard time allowing the prosecution of DeGroot and Rutkowski to go forward to the jury. The attorney Oblon said Jaynes "is convinced of his innocence" and he expects the conviction will eventually be set aside. Even if Horne refuses to set aside the verdict, Oblon can appeal and challenge the new law on constitutional grounds. The defendants have said the law is an unconstitutional infringement of free speech. Virginia prosecuted the case under a law that took effect last year which bars people from sending bulk e-mail that is unsolicited and masks its origin.
Reproduced from an article published by St Petersburg Times
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