Man dubbed "spam king" pleads guilty to three charges

Robert Soloway, dubbed the "spam king" for having sent millions of unwanted e-mails around the globe, pleaded guilty today to mail fraud, fraud in connection with electronic mail and failing to file a tax return.

Soloway, 28, was arrested in May. Soloway faces 26 years in prison on all three counts, Sentencing is scheduled for June 20 in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

Soloway has been out of jail since September because of a medical condition, but is barred from accessing the Internet without court approval.

Soloway was indicted last year on 35 counts of mail and wire fraud in connection with junk e-mail, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. In January, prosecutors filed additional counts of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, as well as two misdemeanor charges stemming from his failure to file income-tax returns.

The IRS has said Soloway had a gross income of $309,725 in 2005 and $294,334 in 2006, yet failed to file returns.

In 2005, Microsoft won a judgment against Soloway after Soloway's company, Newport Internet Marketing, allegedly sent e-mails that appeared to have come from MSN and Hotmail addresses, both of which are owned by Microsoft.