Doors Floors and More

Cited: CNNMoney.com

A 51 months prison sentence has been imposed on a man who claims to be the “Godfather of Spam” by a federal judge in Detroit. He had the lead role in an e-mail stock scam scheme according to the court documents. Alan Ralsky and the others involved in the Internet stock scam received more than or years in prison told. Alan Ralsky, 64, also faces 5 years probation and will have to forfeit $250,000 that was seized by the government in 2007.

U.S. District Judge Marianne Battani also sentenced three others on November 22 for their involvement in the scheme, including Ralsky’s son-in-law Scott Bradley, 48, who received 40 months in prison and 5 years probation.

Ralsky and Bradley were charged for conspiring to commit wire and mail fraud and violating the CAN-SPAM Act, which criminalizes large, commercial e-mail messages sent using an unauthorized computer or with the intent to hide the e-mail’s original source, according to the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. They were also charged with committing wire fraud and engaging in money laundering.

Ralsky and Bradley, both of West Bloomfield, Mich., pleaded guilty to the charges in June. Ralsky’s history as a prolific spammer dates back to 1997. Before the Bush administration passed a law to crack down on e-mail marketers in 2003, Ralsky reportedly sent 70 million messages a day from fake names.

In the operation that began in January 2004, the team sent billions of illegal e-mail advertisements to inflate the price of Chinese penny stocks and then reaped the profit, according to the prosecutor’s office. They raked in nearly $3 million during the summer of 2005.

The prosecution said Ralsky worked with How Wai John Hui, a resident of Hong Kong and Canada, to run the operation. Hui was also sentenced to 51 months in prison and 3 years of probation, and he agreed to forfeit $500,000. Hui was the CEO of China World Trade and served as the lead dealmaker representing companies whose stocks were being promoted in the spam e-mails. Hui plead guilty in December 2008. John Bown, 45, of Fresno, Calif., was sentenced to 32 months in prison for his role in the scheme. He will face 3 years of probation and will forfeit $120,000.

“With today’s sentence of the self-proclaimed ‘Godfather of Spam,’ Alan Ralsky, and three others who played central roles in a complicated stock spam pump-and-dump scheme, the court has made it clear that advancing fraud through the abuse of the Internet will lead to several years in prison,” said U.S. Attorney Terrence Berg, in a statement November 22.

Though the government originally recommended that Ralsky receive up to 87 months in prison, it lowered the sentence recommendation range in November to between 35 and 43 months because of Ralsky’s cooperation. Ralsky’s lawyer, Steven Fishman, said he believed the sentence was “excessive.”

“It was the most disappointing event that I have ever experienced in 36 years as a lawyer,” Fishman said. “The sentence was higher than even what the government recommended, and I never imagined that in a million years. Everyone in the court house was stunned.”

This case involved a three year investigation by the FBI who indicted 11 people in December 2007 four the elaborate stock scheme. In addition, five others pleaded guilty and will be getting their sentence on December 1. As of the publication of this article, there are still two additional individuals that were indicted waiting for their sentencing.

——————————————————-

My Take: It is about time the government started cracking down on spammers! Now spammers will need to make sure they keep a Denver criminal lawyer on retainer, which just might slow them down a little bit. If they do not get a criminal lawyer Denver CO, they better get one from someplace because they are pointed needed. One thing is for sure, they will never need an injury attorney Colorado!

One thing is for sure, the FBI had two of used forensics to get the evidence. Most forensic services offer the services of a forensic pathologist, which is more on the medical side. However, some of these medical legal consultants also provide computer forensics, which is a search for electronic evidence. I remember one thing for my computer programming class and that is that the computer never completely erases anything, unless you format the drive.

——————————————————

Other Resources

Full-Service Criminal Defense

Yes, a lawyer who has the skills and experience to handle any of your criminal charges. A Denver CO criminal defense attorney who handles criminal defense matters exclusively ended and has devoted his entire legal career to criminal law that began with more than 13 years as a prosecutor. This Denver CO felony attorney even offers weekend and evening appointments and is willing to travel to meet you and the location is convenient to you. This is a full-service law firm that handles DUI, felonies, drug, juvenile crimes as well as domestic violence and misdemeanors.