Florida Man Pleads Guilty in Massive Spamming Scheme

A Boca Raton, Florida man pleaded guilty in a New Jersey federal court for his role in a computer hacking and identity theft scheme that hijacked customer email accounts to send bulk unsolicited or ‘spam’ emails, and generated more than $1.3 million in illegal profits.

Timothy Livingston, 31, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini of the District of New Jersey. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 27, 2017.

According to admissions made in connection with his plea agreement, beginning as early as 2011, Livingston operated A Whole Lot of Nothing LLC — a business that specialized in sending unsolicited or spam emails on behalf of its clients.

Livingston admitted that his clients included legitimate businesses, as well as illegal entities, such as online pharmacies that sold narcotics without prescriptions.

Livingston admitted that beginning in January 2012, he solicited Tomasz Chmielarz to write computer programs that would send spam in a manner that concealed the true origin of the email and bypass spam filters.

In connection with his plea agreement, Livingston consented to the entry of a forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $1,346,442, as well as the forfeiture of property obtained using illegal proceeds from the scheme, including a 2009 Cadillac Escalade and a 2006 Ferrari F430 Spider.

Chmielarz, 33, of Rutherford, New Jersey, pleaded guilty for his role in the conspiracy before Judge Martini on June 2.