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STERLING, Va. - Two North Carolina men were the first people charged under Virginia's antispam law, authorities said Thursday.
Jeremy Jaynes of Raleigh and Richard Rutowski of Cary each face four felony counts of using fraudulent means to transmit unsolicited bulk e-mail, said Virginia Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore.
Using the alias "Gaven Stubberfield," Jaynes allegedly sent hundreds of thousands of unsolicited e-mails. He is listed as eighth on the registry of known spam operations as identified by Spamhaus-dot-org, a database of known spammers.
The two allegedly sent e-mails promoting investment schemes, computer software and other products. Both men are expected to be extradited to face charges in Loudoun County, Va., because many of the e-mail servers that handled the spam messages are located there.
Jaynes - who is in custody - faces as much as five years in prison and fines of as much as $2,500 on each count if convicted. Rutowski has communicated with authorities through his lawyer, and is expected to surrender soon.