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*** The King Of Spam Soloway Pleads Guilty ***

Seattle, Washington -- 03/18/2008
The notorious spammer authorities dubbed "the king of spam"
is facing a possible 26-year jail sentence after pleading guilty
in Seattle on Friday to charges of fraud and tax evasion.

Robert Soloway, 28, had already been found guilty of spam charges
in several civil cases -- Microsoft won a $7.8 million judgment against
him in 2005 -- but had avoided paying fines in those cases. The criminal
charges to which he pleaded guilty on Friday followed his arrest in 2007
by the U.S. Justice Department.

He was arrested on criminal charges brought
by the U.S. Department of Justice in May 2007.

In a 2005 discussion group post, Soloway bragged, "I've been sued
for hundreds of millions of dollars and have had my business running
for over 10 years without ever paying a dime regardless to the outcome
of any lawsuits."

That year, Soloway raked in more than $300,000 from
his spam operations, according to his plea agreement.

Soloway has avoided fines in the past, but this time around he may
not be so lucky. In addition to the jail time he now faces, he has also
agreed to discuss his financial assets while being monitored by a lie
detector.

While there have been hundreds of spam prosecutions in the United
States, it is extremely rare for spammers to face criminal charges,
and those involved in the matter say that Soloway's case could serve
as a deterrent to other spammers.

In an interview last month, Microsoft senior attorney Aaron Kornblum
said he thought the prosecution would make other spammers think twice.
"There have not been a large number of criminal CAN-SPAM prosecutions
in the U.S.," he said. "This is significant."

Soloway is set to be sentenced on June 20. The prosecution had
been seeking $700,000 in damages when Soloway was first
charged nearly a year ago.
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