United States v. Kilbride
507 F.Supp.2d 1051
In the United States District Court for the District of Arizona
Docket Number CR 05-0870-PHX-DGC
Before District Judge Campbell
Decided on August 24, 2007

Relevancy of the case: Conviction for sending millions of unsolicited, pornographic emails using fraudulent tactics to hide the sender’s identities

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM) of 2003, 15 U.S.C. §§ 7701-7713
• 18 U.S. Code § 371 (Conspiracy to commit offence or to defraud United States)
• 18 U.S. Code § 1037 (Fraud and related activity in connection with electronic mail)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• Kilbride and Schaffer operated a lucrative spam email business, sending millions of unsolicited pornographic emails that generated $1,417,161 in 2003.
• They moved their operation overseas to evade the CAN-SPAM Act, yet continued sending emails from Schaffer’s home in Arizona and hence were charged with violating the CAN-SPAM Act.

Prominent Arguments by the Counsels

• The defendants claimed that:
  • The indictment was defective for not alleging an illegal objective in the conspiracy charge and argued that their actions involved legal bulk email distribution, misleading the jury.
  • They asserted that the evidence did not prove the violation of the CAN-SPAM Act.
• The prosecution contended that:
  • The evidence shows defendants’ intentional falsification of email headers and registration information to hide their identities and avoid detection.
  • Ghe defendants knowingly violated the CAN-SPAM Act by transmitting millions of commercial emails with materially false header information.

Opinion of the Bench

• The court relied on testimony from various witnesses, including the defendants’ employees and overseas business affiliates, along with extensive documentary evidence.

Final Decision

• The court denied the defendants’ motion for a judgment of acquittal or a new trial, upholding the jury’s guilty verdict on all counts.