Guilty: Prolific spammer says he didn't file tax returns

A man dubbed the "king of spam" pleaded guilty last Friday to federal charges of mail and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and tax evasion, not to mention sending millions of pieces of spam over a four-year period.

Seattle resident Robert Soloway, the owner of Newport Internet Marketing Corp. (NIMC) pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court in Seattle. In 2005, Soloway made $309,725 in revenue, but did not file an income tax return.

"Spam is a scourge of the Internet, and Robert Soloway is one of its most prolific practitioners," US Attorney for the Western District of Washington Jeff Sullivan said in a statement. "Our investigators dubbed him the 'Spam King' because he is responsible for millions of spam e-mails."

After Soloway launched his online business in November 2003, federal investigators first indicted him in May 2007, when he faced a 40-count indictment that included money laundering and identity theft charges. In a plea agreement with the Justice department, prosecutors agreed to drop 37 charges against Soloway, though the remaining charges carried heavy fines and jail time.

The NIMC company sent "broadcast e-mail" software and service spam to businesses and users, oftentimes using clever tricks to avoid detection. Soloway reportedly hopped the NIMC Web site to more than 50 domains. The government alleged he used a stolen credit card number to pay for at least one of those domains. He was especially difficult to track down because he created false headers belonging to legitimate businesses and real users, which sometimes led to accusations of spamming being directed towards innocent parties.

Soloway will be sentenced in late June. He faces up to 26 years in federal prison and fines up to $625,000.