'Spam King' walks away from Florence prison, last seen in Lakewood
By Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News (Contact), Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published July 22, 2008 at 2:34 p.m.
Updated July 22, 2008 at 7:18 p.m.
Edward "Eddie" Davidson
The man known as "The Spam King" walked away from a minimum-security federal prison in Florence on Sunday and was last seen in Lakewood.
Edward "Eddie" Davidson, 35, was sentenced in April to serve 21 months in prison for his role in sending hundreds of thousands of unsolicited fraudulent e-mails touting certain penny stocks as excellent investments. Davidson also was ordered to pay $714,139 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and to forfeit gold coins and other property he purchased with ill-gotten gains.
He'd been in the Florence facility for about a month and a half when he escaped.
According to Lakewood police Tuesday, Davidson apparently escaped when his wife came to visit him in Florence on Sunday. "He jumped in the car with his wife," said Will Cochenour with Lakewood police Tuesday. "When they were leaving, he forced her in the car, brought them home and left after a change in clothing. He's still at large."
It was not clear Tuesday whether Davidson or his wife was driving the vehicle from Florence to Lakewood.
Davidson was last seen leaving the home on South Fig Street on Sunday afternoon in his wife's 2006 silver Toyota Sequoia.
U.S. Marshals are leading the search for Davidson, with the FBI, IRS and the Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force assisting. A warrant for Davidson was issued shortly after his escape.
Between 2002 and 2005, Davidson's Power Promoters spamming network promoted watches, perfumes and other products, U.S. Attorney Troy Eid said. Then he started concentrating on a Texas company's penny stock.
U.S. Attorney Troy Eid and prosecutor Tim Neff said the e-mail messages Davidson and his subcontractors sent to hundreds of thousands of addresses contained false header information that concealed the actual sender.
The plea agreement that led to his guilty plea and 21-month sentence says Davidson, of Louisville, made at least $3.5 million in the fraudulent scheme.
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July 22, 2008
2:41 p.m.
Suggest removal
Bagel writes:
I guess they're going to have to quit trusting the honor system when they leave the doors unlocked.
July 22, 2008
2:48 p.m.
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Who_Me writes:
Did he leave a forwarding email address? One has to wonder.
July 22, 2008
3:31 p.m.
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ssquared writes:
"... walked away ... " Huh? WTF is that?
July 22, 2008
3:34 p.m.
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cedykeman1 writes:
Why on earth would the department of corrections think this guy had any morals, he's a proven piece of crap
July 22, 2008
3:54 p.m.
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Woogford writes:
Check the library. I bet you can find him huddled at one of the computers sending out e-mail.
July 22, 2008
3:58 p.m.
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AC writes:
Why is he even in jail in the first place for sending spam email? Are poeole afraid to use their "delete" key or filters? Are they so afraid they might be sold a breast enhancement or penls enlargement against their wills? Spam? Who cares. Delete. Don't we need jail space for actual criminals?
July 22, 2008
4:37 p.m.
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ssquared writes:
AC Shhhhhhhh! Our chosen few are busy legislating common sense.
Eddie didn't have the proper SEC credentials to 'tout' those Texas
penny stocks. And ... us senior types with a few bucks tucked away are
prone to believing everything we read when it comes to making a fast
one. Sad but true.
July 22, 2008
5:30 p.m.
Suggest removal
Marmot writes:
dumb. Now he'll spend an extra five years in the DOC for escape, and he'll not be serving in a minimum security facility.
July 22, 2008
5:41 p.m.
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hlucki writes:
This is a good one. walked away. If he can, anyone can.
July 22, 2008
6:44 p.m.
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Oroboros writes:
"Why is he even in jail in the first place for sending spam email?"
AC, he was jailed primarily for tax evasion, the same thing they nailed Capone for.
He also did a lot more than just sending a bunch of emails. Most of the malicious software on the Internet today - viruses, worms and trojan horses, exist solely to facilitate spamming and phishing. The collateral damage from people like Edward Davidson is very high.
If you research his conviction, you'll see he was primarily engaged in what they call "pump and dump". So in addition to tax evasion, the Securities and Exchange Commission was also very interested in Mr. Davidson's activities.
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/co/press_re...
It is estimated that spam costs each company with an email presence about $1000 per employee per year in lost time:
http://klikkanan.wordpress.com/2008/0...
That doesn't include the costs of cleaning up the viruses and worms that invariably go along with the spam.
July 22, 2008
7:27 p.m.
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McGowdog writes:
Dude looks kinda like Jack Bauer.
July 22, 2008
9:40 p.m.
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redwhiteandBLUE writes:
Where's the 3.5 mil stashed ? Or what happened to it ?
July 23, 2008
1:15 a.m.
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Who_Me writes:
RMN - and the updated article is better than this one? How many times do you get credit for writing the same story? This is worse than reading what's left of your newspaper.
July 23, 2008
1:23 a.m.
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xyzwtfxyz writes:
For those of you who are surprised, astonished, or bewildered that an incarcerated individual could possibly walk away from a prison, I would like you to know that it costs you considerably less in your taxpaying dollars to house such a prisoner than it does to house one in more secure facilities. The inmates in the less secure facilities are there for specific reasons that include among several factors that they are the least risky to present a danger to the community at large and their previous or projected victims, they are less likely to be an escape risk, and they have demonstrated cooperative and good behavioral traits while incarcerated.
Your elected legislative representatives determine what crimes are felonies that are subject to incarceration and your appointed judicial system decides whether they are guilty of such crimes either by trial by a jury of citizens or by a declaration of guilt by the perpetrator. Neither of those particular functions is the responsibility of the executive branch which is charged with housing and managing those individuals in a responsible and cost effective manner.
This individual was incarcerated at a minimum security federal facility south of Florence, Colorado, under federal law and a federal court’s order and should not be confused with the Colorado Department of Corrections, as some here have inferred.
In any case, do any of you really feel threatened by this individual walking away from his confinement? This was more of a punishment sentence to protect people from economic rather than actual physical harm by the individual.
July 27, 2008
3:39 a.m.
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spam_is_theft writes:
xyzwtfxyz writes:
"In any case, do any of you really feel threatened by this individual walking away from his confinement? This was more of a punishment sentence to protect people from economic rather than actual physical harm by the individual."
How prophetic.
Spammers are criminally-minded and sociopathic, just like other thieves, liars and con men. They are parasites on the Internet and society, and they will not stop their abusive actions without physical intervention. Unfortunately, many in society don't recognize the threat yet, pretending that cyber crime is somehow less harmful or real or evil.
Judge Marcia Krieger didn't have the benefit of reviewing priors on Eddie Davidson's meth habit. She didn't hear the threats of violence Davidson made to so many ISP admins over the years. She doesn't have the benefit of strong federal law prohibiting spam and providing appropriate sentences. So she, like Judge Marsha Pechman in the Robert Soloway case, went fairly light on what she perceived to be a less serious crime. At least she ordered some mental health care[1]. But she failed to protect society from someone that plenty of people knew was a bad egg[2].
And unfortunately, this time she got it wrong and innocent people died[3].
Rest in peace, Amy Hill and child. Daughter and infant, may the rest of your life offer you many more comforts than this horrific chapter.
[1] http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news...
[2] http://www.spamhaus.org/rokso/listing...
[3] http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news...