Porn Spamming Duo Sentenced to 5-Plus Years

PHOENIX — Two pornography spammers convicted in June of conspiracy, money laundering, fraud and transportation of obscene materials face more than five years prison time and major fines.

Jeffrey Kilbride of Venice, Calif., was sentenced last week to six-and-a-half years and James Schaffer of Paradise Valley, Ariz., was sentenced to 5 ¼ years in prison. Both were fined $100,000 and forced to hand over $1.1 million of their $2 million in spam profit.

Both reportedly also had to pay America Online $77,500 after the conglomerate claimed to have had 1.5 million customers complain about spam.

Adult industry attorney Gary Kaufman of Los Angeles-based the Kaufman Law Group — who also represents adult social networking site SexSearch.com — told XBIZ that he has been hired by Schaffer to appeal his conviction.

Kaufman said he believes the conviction is unwarranted and the sentence is excessive.

"We believe that the government is going to use the sentence imposed in this case as a hammer to induce future indictees to cop a plea early on," Kaufman said. "We believe that there are unique and novel issues for the appellate court to address. We are hopeful that we will obtain a reversal on appeal.”

Kilbride has hired adult industry attorney Gregory Piccionelli of Piccionelli & Sarno to handle his appeal. Piccionelli said that this case should act as an industry wakeup call.

“For those in the business that think that the government would not sentence people to jail for the distribution of non-child pornographic material, they need look no further than this case to see that the government is serious about going after this business," Piccionelli said. "Unfortunately Schaffer and Kilbride may turn out to be the poster children for that vendetta."

The two men began their spamming operation in 2003, embedding hardcore pornography in mass emails, making it available and visible to anyone who opened the messages. When the CAN-SPAM act became law a year later, the two used international servers and mismatching "reply to" and "from" addresses, making it difficult to trace the spam emails.

The Justice Department said Kilbride and Schaffer registered their domains under the name of a "fictitious employee at a shell corporation" and that the two had set up in the Republic of Mauritius, another serious CAN-SPAM violation. They also used overseas banks to launder and hide money from the IRS.

Kilbride and Schaffer initially were charged in 2005. Schaffer also was charged with 2257 violations, after officials discovered he had not maintained appropriate records for the adult performers featured on Boobs.com, CumShots.com and FaceSat.com, three websites he operated overseas through The Compliance Company and Ganymede Marketing.

Related:  

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

FSC Publishes Analysis of Federal Trade Commission Event Promoting AV

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) has published an analysis of a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) event held this week that promoted age verification among other forms of speech regulation.

GirlsDoPorn Owner Michael Pratt Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking

Michael Pratt, former owner of the rogue website GirlsDoPorn, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on Thursday to sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking charges, according to a report by City News Service.

Master Nico Relaunches Site Through YourPaysitePartner

Master Nico has relaunched his official website through YourPaysitePartner (YPP).

Federal Judge Grants Partial Halt of Florida AV Law

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee Division, has granted a preliminary injunction against HB 3, the state's age verification law, as a lawsuit filed by two online trade associations challenging the law makes its way through the courts.

Aylo Releases Statement on Suspending Access to Pornhub in France

Technology and media company Aylo, which operates adult sites including Pornhub, YouPorn, and Redtube, has released a public statement regarding its decision to block access to its sites in France.

Pineapple Support to Host Wellness Sessions at Bucharest Summit

Pineapple Support is hosting free group and one-on-one therapy sessions at Bucharest Summit, June 3-5.

Pornhub Blocks Access in France in Response to SREN Law

Pornhub parent company Aylo has opted to block access to its sites in France rather than comply with age verification requirements under the country’s Security and Regulation of the Digital Space (SREN) law.

ASACP Highlights Study on Parental Controls

The Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) is highlighting the results of a study on the underutilization of parental controls.

Sydney Screams Launches New Site Through Grooby's Blue.xxx

Sydney Screams has launched her new membership site, SydneyScreams.xxx, through Grooby's website management company Blue.xxx.

Mistress Mystii Is LoyalFans' 'Featured Creator' for June

LoyalFans has named Mistress Mystii as its Featured Creator for June.

Show More