Spammer escapes slammer (Updated)

28 December 2013
Federal Prison chapel, Lompoc Calif.

Federal Prison chapel, Lompoc Calif. (Photo credit: Eli Nixon)

The Lompoc Record is reporting that Jeffery Kilbride has escaped from the minimum security federal lockup.

Kilbride was convicted in 2007 of offenses primarily related to the CAN-SPAM Act. Among the things that were apparently included was an allegation that Kilbride and his partner had impaired the ability to track them down by using false contact information. In their argument to the 9th Circuit, they alleged that the standard to which they were being held would result in the CAN-SPAM Act making the use of privacy proxies in domain registrations illegal under US law. The court’s response here was priceless:

We fail to perceive any vagueness on this point. Based on the plain meaning of the relevant terms discussed above, private registration for the purpose of concealing the actual registrant’s identity would constitute “material falsification.” Defendants assert that many innocent people who privately register without the requisite intent may be subject to investigation for violation of § 1037 until their intent can be determined, allowing for abuse by enforcement authorities. This may be so, but it does not make the statute unconstitutionally vague.

Read moreSending email to wireless domains?

The court ended up affirming Kilbride’s 78 month (6.5 year) sentence. It would appear that Kilbride was approximately half way through that sentence when he decided to give himself an early parole.

According to the Lompoc Record‘s account, he was last seen in a white, four door sedan.

UPDATE: The Santa Maria Times reports that Kilbride has turned himself in and is back in custody. Looks like he was gone for only about a day.

Bibliography

  1. Janene Scully (2013, December 31), Lompoc inmate back in custody, (Santa Maria Times). Retrieved from http://santamariatimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/lompoc-inmate-back-in-custody/article_7556bc1c-71f0-11e3-a5d1-0019bb2963f4.html.
  2. Lompoc Record Staff (2013, December 27), Inmate escapes from Lompoc federal prison camp, (Lompoc Record). Retrieved from http://www.lompocrecord.com/news/local/inmate-escapes-from-lompoc-federal-prison-camp/article_17b44ffe-6f69-11e3-81cd-001a4bcf887a.html.
  3. USA v. Kilbride, 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (2009, October 28). Retrieved from Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?q=us+v+kilbride&hl=en&as_sdt=6,44&case=17927549797826193178&scilh=0.
  4. Mickey Chandler (2009, November 4), Use private domain registration and go to jail?. Retrieved from Spamtacular: http://www.spamtacular.com/2009/11/04/use-private-domain-registration-go-jail/.