Convicted "spam king" escapes from prison, kills self and family
If you ever wished that a spammer would die, die, die, congratulations — you got your wish. But we hope that hearing the fate of Eddie Davidson doesn't make you feel smugly self-satisfied. Davidson of Benet, Colo., one of several convicted "spam kings," walked away from his minimum-security prison camp and shot himself, his wife, and his 3-year-old daughter, Department of Justice officials said Thursday. Davidson's spam scheme involved sending out massive volumes of emails with manipulated headers to pretend they were from legitimate companies pushing penny stocks.He would earn a fee from an unnamed third-party company based out of Houston based on the number of emails he sent out. In the years that he was active, between 2003 and 2006, the DOJ claims he had over $3.5 million deposited into his bank accounts. Davidson plead guilty to falsifying header information to send spam; tax evasion; and criminal forfeiture. He'd been sentenced to spend 21 months in the minimum-security prison, as well as ordered to pay $714,139 in restitution. Happy with the payback?