Other LanguagesA federal judge is apparently having a difficult time determining an appropriate penalty for “Spam King” Robert Soloway. You may recall that we told you Soloway pleaded guilty March 14 to federal charges of mail fraud, wire fraud, and failure to file a tax return. Prosecutors said the Seattle man used networks of compromised computers to send out millions upon millions of junk e-mails since 2003. The feds have asked that be locked up for 14 years. Soloway was scheduled to be sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Seattle but Judge Marsha Pechman rescheduled for July 22 because some witnesses hadn’t yet taken the stand even after two days of testimony.
According to this insightful report by IDG News Service, Pechman said she is struggling to determine an appropriate penalty:
"When I look at the guidelines, this crime doesn't fit easily into slots," Pechman said. She was referring to a matrix of sentencing guidelines judges use to help them determine appropriate sentences.
The closest thing to spam that she can imagine is pollution -- "some are poisoned by it, others are annoyed," she said. But that still doesn't help her determine how much jail time Soloway should serve.