DETROIT, June 23 (UPI) -- A man prosecutors call the "Spam King" has pleaded guilty in Detroit to flooding the Internet with unsolicited promotions, authorities said.
Alan M. Ralsky, 64, of West Bloomfield, Mich., pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court to federal fraud and money laundering charges, The Detroit News reported Tuesday.
In a plea deal, Ralsky agreed to help the government catch other e-mail spammers in return for a possible sentence reduction, the News reported.
For years, Ralsky was hired by companies to flood the Internet with unsolicited promotions for everything from sexual enhancement drugs to mortgages and penny stocks, prosecutors told Judge Marianne O. Battani.
Prosecutors allege Ralsky made nearly $3 million from unsolicited promotions in the summer of 2005 alone, the News reported.
"Using the Internet to manipulate the stock market through spam e-mail campaigns is a serious crime," U.S. Attorney Terrence Berg said Monday.
