A Virginia software developer has pleaded guilty for his role in creating and marketing software used to send bulk commercial emails that are in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Software Writer Pleads Guilty To Spam Charges

David S. Patton, 49, of Centreville, Virginia, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting violations of the CAN-SPAM Act committed by spammer Alan Ralsky and Scott Bradley of West Bloomfield, Michigan and others.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, Patton is facing up to six years in prison, a fine of $3,000 while forfeiting $50,100 in proceeds from the sale of his software.

According to court documents, from January 2004 through September 2005, Patton, through his company Lightspeed Marketing, developed, marketed, sold and distributed customized software products that enabled users to send large volumes of spam email at high speeds and disguise the true origin of the emails from recipients in order to get around spam filters.

Patton sold both Nexus and Proxy Scanner to Ralsky and other customers, knowing that the two software programs would used to commit violations of the CAN-SPAM Act, the DOJ said. Patton also provided ongoing support and product updates to his Nexus and Proxy Scanner customers with the intent to assist them in violating the CAN-SPAM Act.

Patton is the twelfth defendant charged in connection with the spam email operation run by Ralsky from January 2004 to September 2005. Ralsky, Bradley and half a dozen other defendants have pleaded guilty to CAN-SPAM related charges and other offenses.