NJ Spammer Draws 2 Years in Slammer

Todd Moeller, the 28-year-old New Jersey man who sent spam e-mails to 1.27 million America Online accounts, was sentenced yesterday in federal court to 27 months in prison. Moeller and a friend were nabbed after making a deal with a government informant to send the emails in August 2005; ironically, the spam message advertised a computer security program, Reuters reports.

Moeller and his friend, Adam Vitale of New York, pleaded guilty to breaking anti-spam laws; Vitale will be sentenced Nov 13. Moeller and Vitale broke through AOL's filter system by using 40 different computer servers and changing the email header information. Moeller told the informant he earned $40,000 a month from e-mail scams promoting stocks. (More Todd Moeller stories.)