Freedom

Judge rejects guilty plea in AOL spam case

NEW YORK -- A federal judge refused to accept a guilty plea Tuesday from a former America Online software engineer accused of stealing 92 million e-mail addresses and selling them to spammers. Judge Alvin Hellerstein of Manhattan federal court said he was not convinced Jason Smathers, 24, had actually committed a crime under new federal "can-spam" legislation that took effect earlier this year. Posted by Editor at December 22, 2004 06:59 PM