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Spam King Escapes From Federal Prison 596

Bobfrankly1 writes "The FBI, IRS, and the Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force are helping the US Marshals search for escaped 'Spam King' Edward 'Eddie' Davidson. He apparently jumped in a car with his wife, changed clothes at home, and hasn't been seen since." Update: 07/24 22:20 GMT by T : It seems that Davidson has been found, victim of a murder-suicide which also left two others dead.
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Spam King Escapes From Federal Prison

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  • If only (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:08AM (#24317909)
    If only there was some way to send an email to everybody in the world with this information.
    ;-)
  • by denzacar ( 181829 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:08AM (#24317911) Journal

    The one-armed man did it!

  • by Van Cutter Romney ( 973766 ) <sriram.venkatara ... m ['gee' in gap]> on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:08AM (#24317915)
    Here's [fbi.gov] the FBI press release.
  • by jorx ( 975057 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:08AM (#24317925) Homepage
    I knew they were hurting for ideas but this is rediculous!
  • Incoming! (Score:4, Funny)

    by bhodikhan ( 894485 ) * on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:09AM (#24317929)
    He's probably headed for the nearest datacenter to unleash an apocalyptic deluge of spam. Head for the hills! It's the end I tell you!
  • Clothes? (Score:5, Funny)

    by magical_mystery_meat ( 1042950 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:09AM (#24317931)

    I thought that changing clothes only worked if your wanted level was 2 stars.

  • What to do next? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by neapolitan ( 1100101 ) * on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:09AM (#24317933)

    Really, really bad move. Now, instead of two years at summer camp, he will go to many more years of Federal Pound-me-in-the-a$$ Prison. It is really, really hard in today's day and age to avoid being captured, even with a lot of money if you want to live at some decent level. His best bet I think is to go to a foreign country where he could blend in, and live inconspicuously.

    Even in some place like Mexico he would be quite a stand out if he flashed cash, and in the US you'd ultimately fall temptation to going to the local drugstore and risk being nabbed on camera. Any lawyers know if there are any countries which would absolutely refuse extradition? If so, he would still need to 1) get there and 2) transfer enough money to survive, and much more if he couldn't work.

    Interestingly enough, I think the next play depends on how many resources the US government will put into capturing him and raising awareness among people. A stint on "Dateline" or widely watched / read program would help any possible acquaintances turn him in.

    • by hardburn ( 141468 ) <hardburn.wumpus-cave@net> on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:14AM (#24318031)

      Nah, Arrested Development taught me that you can escape as many times as you want, and they'll eventually let you go home with an ankle bracelet.

    • by bagboy ( 630125 ) <neo&arctic,net> on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:17AM (#24318073)
      If there is any real justice in this world, an angry mob of sysadmins, email admins, etc. will hunt him down and force feed him a buttload of cialis until he vomits and chokes to death on them.
    • Re:What to do next? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Westech ( 710854 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:17AM (#24318081) Journal
      He probably transferred a chunk of money into a country without an extradition treaty way before he got caught. He had a ton of money floating around before he was busted. It only makes sense that he set up an escape plan in case the spam hit the fan.
    • by homesnatch ( 1089609 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:17AM (#24318087)
      In his next prison sentence, his inbox will be stuffed and it will probably be unsolicited.
    • by StrawberryFrog ( 67065 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:31AM (#24318315) Homepage Journal

      Really, really bad move. Now, instead of two years at summer camp, he will go to many more years of Federal Pound-me-in-the-a$$ Prison.

      Spammers are not known for taking the long view and doing the right thing.

    • by Z00L00K ( 682162 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:31AM (#24318327) Homepage Journal

      Dearest,

      I greet you in the name of God.I also want to sincerely apologies for and discomfort or embarrassment may cause you.As I am quite sure that you will be surprise to receive this message from me, i got your email address contact after a critical search for someone reliable with a good heart with whom i will be able to transact business with. I am spiritually assured that you will be capable of assisting me,this is why i have taken this step to contact you and hopefully get your attention to assist me in a certain business transaction that will be of benefit to you and I.

      My name is Edward Davidson and I have substantial funds and assets to a value of US$ 1 billion within the United States of America that I need to have transferred out of the country in the form of cash or other high-value items. Please send an email to eddie@spamk1ng.org if you are interested in helping me. You will get a share of 30 percent if you are successful in helping me with this!

      Please keep this confidential!

    • Re:What to do next? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Duncan Blackthorne ( 1095849 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:32AM (#24318357)
      He's probably been learning Russian. I'm sure they'd greet him with a heroes' welcome and offer him a high-paying job with their organization, considering his "street cred".
    • Re:What to do next? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by afidel ( 530433 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:32AM (#24318363)
      Brazil has no extradition treaty with the US, however for high profile targets they have been known to negotiate with the state department and turned people over for certain considerations.
    • by darkmeridian ( 119044 ) <william.chuang@g[ ]l.com ['mai' in gap]> on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:47AM (#24318609) Homepage

      Prison rape is a serious problem in the United States, where over 2.1 million people are incarcerated. Depending on the statistics you believe [wikipedia.org], there are more men raped in prison then women are raped outside of prison. And it is not the "real" criminals who are the victims. For example, a 17-year-old boy was gang-raped in prison [nytimes.com] after he robbed a guy with a toy gun. Sure, the robbery was a stupid thing to do, but our society punished him by putting him in jail, not to have him gang-raped. Victims of gang-rape risk getting STDs including HIV, which effectively renders a prison sentence for forging a check into a death sentence. Our nation's drug laws have placed many in jail for relatively small crimes. These people are in danger of being raped.

      Only people in the United States think it is funny that prisoners are being raped. Prison guards and administrators do not care about this problem, and it is unconstitutionally cruel to allow this to happen. I am not a softie liberal; on the contrary, I believe in the strict letter of the law. We sentence people to jail, or to die. We do not sentence them to get gang-raped for the rest of their lives. (Believe me, I'd be all in favor of getting the real criminals who rape and murder others to be raped themselves for the rest of their lives, but quite expectedly, it is those people who are doing the raping in prison.)

      • by mdarksbane ( 587589 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @11:07AM (#24318931)

        Wish I had mod points.

        It's one of the sickest little bits of our culture that prison rape jokes aren't considered offensive.

        I mean, I still make them, but I make rape jokes in general, and am occasionally considered an ass for it. Your grandma can make a "guy gets raped in prison" joke on the morning news and no one would get offended.

        There are multiple cases where a man sentenced for non-violent crimes was turned into a sex slave for years, given HIV, and sent to the hospital multiple times for internal injuries relating to his treatment, and the prison guards said "tough it up and don't be a pansy."

      • by jameskojiro ( 705701 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @11:08AM (#24318949) Journal

        People bag about the Japanese prision system being so harsh and mean, I disagree.

        I would rather be in a Japanese jail cell where they lock you in a small room with no one, no prison yard, no TV, no personal property privileges and it is lonely. That a prison in the US where your bunkmate is "Bubba" and he thinks your lips look really pretty. I would rather be isolated and cut off from any one that have someone raping me in a prison.

        I think the US prisons are cruel in that they allow such behavior to occur in the first place. In a way it is cruel and unusual punishment.

        • by darkmeridian ( 119044 ) <william.chuang@g[ ]l.com ['mai' in gap]> on Thursday July 24, 2008 @11:14AM (#24319039) Homepage

          People talk about "inhumane" prison systems such as those in Iran (they cut your hands off!) or Saudi Arabia (they have public hangings and beheadings!) but we have gang-rape that is basically sanctioned by the state. Americans think their prison system is cushy but if they only knew the truth to the ass-rape joke they make they would be inclined to do something about it.

          I love America. That's why I try to improve it (by criticizing its failures) so we can do more to improve it. It's un-American, I think, to rest on the laurels of our forefathers and say, "America is number one!" without doing anything to make it better.

          • by sckeener ( 137243 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @12:00PM (#24319849)

            Both my parents are in prison (my mom is guilty, but I believe my dad to be innocent)in Texas

            My mom shared a story to me and it was many years go...in the 90s. The story is about how Texas uses live prisoners to test their tracking dogs.

            There was a 60 year old women, with a PhD in some geology discipline, in jail. She was given a path to follow and told the dogs would try to follow her trail. She got to a swampy area and walked around it. They didn't like that so they had her do the course again but this time to go through the swampy area just to see if the dogs could track her. She did and got stuck up to armpits. She was frantic because if the dogs caught her she would be mauled. That was the least of her problems...turns out someone had been illegally dumping in the swamp and this 60 year old woman got chemical burns all over her body. She had to be flown down to Galveston for their burn unit to treat her.

            that is cruel treatment....

            another dog tracking tail....

            a girl in her 20s was let loose into a field with grass higher than her and told a path to follow. The dogs were going to track her. She got lost and sat down. The dogs didn't find her and when she didn't turn up at the end where she was supposed to, they had to do a search...when they found her they treated her like she attempted to escape...they even took her to court to tack on more time. She was terrified when she sat down in the field because of the dogs, but she didn't know what else to do...luckly the dogs didn't find her

            I have no understanding of why prisoners are needed to test dogs tracking abilities or why tracking bracelets weren't used on the prisoners.

      • by wild_quinine ( 998562 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @11:40AM (#24319453)

        For example, a 17-year-old boy was gang-raped in prison [nytimes.com] after he robbed a guy with a toy gun.

        I don't know how many times that is, but it sounds like a lot.

      • Re:What to do next? (Score:5, Informative)

        by Britz ( 170620 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @11:50AM (#24319659)

        The rate at which female inmates are raped is even higher than among males.
        http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/382/tellthestories.shtml [stopthedrugwar.org]

        I couldn't find the article, but I read one on CNN which stated that sex is treated as a currency in womens prison where often times male guards are working even thought that is not supposed to be the case. AFAIR it was talking about cases where female prisoners were routinely "rented" out to male prisoners by the guards.

        The male population in prison is much higher, which makes for a higher number of rape cases, but relatively speaking the problem is even worse among the female prison population.

    • by sm62704 ( 957197 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:56AM (#24318745) Journal

      he will go to many more years of Federal Pound-me-in-the-a$$ Prison

      First, a minor bit of pedantry: only prostitutes have a$$es. Everyone in the US has asses, and everyone not in the US has arses.

      Second, isn't "I hereby sentence you to five years of being assraped" unconstitutional? It violates the injunction against cruel and unusual punishment, and only men get assraped in prison. I'm surprised that freed felons aren't suing the government left and right; it's the warden and jailers' responsibilities to ensure that prisoners aren't committing crimes in prison.

  • Regrets? (Score:4, Informative)

    by courteaudotbiz ( 1191083 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:09AM (#24317935) Homepage
    So he really regrets [yahoo.com] for the mess he's done? There are better ways to apologize than to escape prison!
    • Re:Regrets? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Bogtha ( 906264 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:46AM (#24318587)

      There are better ways to apologize than to escape prison!

      Of course there are. He should email everybody to apologise!

      Hello, this is Edward 'Eddie' Davidson, a.k.a. Spammy Dude. The court has ordered me to email every person on the Internet to apologize for my spam scam. I'm sorry. If you can find it in your heart to forgive me, send one dollar to Sorry Dude, 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield. You have the power.

  • by Gigiya ( 1022729 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:10AM (#24317945)
    Why not actually have criminals go to prison?
    • by SatanicPuppy ( 611928 ) * <Satanicpuppy.gmail@com> on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:20AM (#24318127) Journal

      Because there is a difference between sending spam and committing a violent crime?

      There are countries where jail is jail, whether you're a mass murderer or a serial jaywalker. I kinda like living in a country where they're not going to throw me in with the violent offenders if I scam the IRS.

      • by Sen.NullProcPntr ( 855073 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:30AM (#24318293)

        I kinda like living in a country where they're not going to throw me in with the violent offenders if I scam the IRS.

        Probably the laws are that way because the law makers are more likely to scam the IRS than to be murderers.

      • by sm62704 ( 957197 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @11:19AM (#24319101) Journal

        If you're in the US, you're blissfully ignorant of the reality of the situation. My friend Linda was sent to Dwight Correctional Center, [wikipedia.org] a maximum security hellhole, for non-violent drug posesssion. Not sales, mind you, but nonviolent posession for personal use.

        OTOH Lance Carter, a violent asshole who was dishonorably discharged from the Marines who I avoid when possible, broke into a man's home and tried to murder him with a large butcher knife. He spent two weeks in the Sangamon County Jail for home invasion.

        I was going to link the newspaper article about his arrest, but it appears they've removed it. It's quoted in this NSFW journal [slashdot.org] about the incident.

        • by swb ( 14022 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @01:48PM (#24321891)

          It feels like you're not telling the whole story -- what did she possesses and how much and in what circumstances?

          In even the harshest states, simple possession of small use quantities of even felony-level drugs doesn't result in maximum security prison time simply because there are too many people being caught committing the crimes and even our idiotic justice system has recognized to some extent that addiction and dependency are real issues.

          Only 3-strikes offenders, non-personal-use quantities or possession during the commission of a felony end up adding up to real prison time. The federal system is worse due to mandatory minimums (which, IIRC, they recently made harder to impose).

          I have heard of (usually) women getting burned on conspiracy beefs due to boyfriends/husbands/fathers/brothers being involved and the women being passively complicit.

          So what actually happened to her that Illinois wanted to spend $40k a year to house her?

  • by Just Some Guy ( 3352 ) <kirk+slashdot@strauser.com> on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:10AM (#24317949) Homepage Journal

    On the upside, I'm pretty sure it's legal to shoot escaped convicts.

  • 21 months? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by b96miata ( 620163 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:10AM (#24317951)

    Who the hell runs from a 2 year bid at a club fed?

  • Oops (Score:5, Funny)

    by Jefan ( 1096649 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:11AM (#24317967)
    Looks like the police spam blocker wasn't configured properly :(
  • by eln ( 21727 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:11AM (#24317975)

    He's going to totally ruin the honor system for everyone else.

  • Heh (Score:5, Interesting)

    by db32 ( 862117 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:12AM (#24317993) Journal
    I wonder if they will start taking this more seriously and treating these people like criminals. I mean really...guy steals some property and can get years in a place a little more harsh than this dorm style prison. This guy stole bandwidth, and while it is an intangible thing, ultimately the total cost of his crap cost people FAR more than the value of the crap you could carry out of a pawn shop. I vote send his ass to a real prison.

    From the comments from the article (because I know most of you won't read it, and I'm not going to take credit for it). "One can only hope his punishment will be unsolicited male."
    • Re:Heh (Score:5, Insightful)

      by SatanicPuppy ( 611928 ) * <Satanicpuppy.gmail@com> on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:32AM (#24318349) Journal

      It's not how much you steal, it's how you steal it. If you pull a gun to steal a twinkie, you get more time and higher security than if you steal millions in some white collar scheme.

      In the end, just being caught is often the end of your white collar crime spree, because it's really difficult to get yourself back in that position when you've got a record. But if you're a violent offender, you're equally a danger to society before and after jail.

  • by saintsfan ( 1171797 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:13AM (#24317997)
    he had 21 months for "spam". when they catch him, he'll face new charges for breaking out of prison. in addition, "When they were leaving, he forced her in the car" is that kidnapping? from minimum security "dormitories" to something a little rougher i imagine. bad move
  • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:13AM (#24317999)
    I for one welcome our new king of penis enlargement overlord.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:13AM (#24318005)

    In real jail, your inbox is crammed full of unsolicited male.

  • What an idiot (Score:5, Insightful)

    by w00d ( 91529 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:15AM (#24318039)

    He had a 21 month sentence in a minimum security work camp a.k.a "Club Fed". Now he gets an automatic 10 years added on for escaping and he'll be doing it in maximum security "Pound me in the ass" prison with the real bad dudes. This guy really isn't very bright.

    • Re:What an idiot (Score:5, Insightful)

      by PMuse ( 320639 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @12:49PM (#24320673)

      He needed clothing sure, but why go home? They are sure to 'attempt to reacquire him there. I would.'

      I suggest that we proceed on the assumption that he is bright enough to (1) run the cost-benefit analysis on escaping and (2) have a cache of cash and ID stored in preparation for a serious attempt to get out of the country and (3) isn't planning on returning to the US, ever.

  • by xpuppykickerx ( 1290760 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:16AM (#24318059)
    I mean with all that money the Nigerian Prince has, I'm sure he can spare a room for Spam King.
  • A Letter (Score:5, Funny)

    by cptnapalm ( 120276 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:25AM (#24318209)

    Dear Batman,

    You protected Gotham from the personification of fear, the Scarecrow.

    You protected Gotham from the personification of chaos, the Joker.

    Now a new threat has arisen.

    Your people need you now, more than ever for the personification of annoyance, irritation and aggravation has escaped his just imprisonment, the Spam King!

    While I know how adverse you are to taking a life even in the most dire circumstances, in this instance I believe I speak for everyone and say that this man is a threat to sanity itself. So, should he threaten innocents with p3n1s en1argm3n7 or heirs to Zimbabwean fortunes, we'll understand if you have no choice but to drop him off of a building or something. Pummeling him to death would be acceptable too.

  • by Hoi Polloi ( 522990 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:36AM (#24318429) Journal

    Be on the lookout for a man with a large penis and breasts, lots of mortgages, sexy naked teens, and a bottle of v1@grA. He was last seen with the ex-Minister of Finance for Nigeria, Dr Mugotumbe.

  • by arkham6 ( 24514 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:40AM (#24318483)
    Why? Because now, when he gets caught, he will NOT go back to 'club fed', but will go back to at least medium, and probably maxamum security prison, where the really bad boys are held.

    And I'm sure when he's there, locked up late at night with 'tiny', that he's going to regret sending those herbal Viagra and penis enlargement emails.
  • by 140Mandak262Jamuna ( 970587 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:41AM (#24318509) Journal
    Dear Spam Recipient, I am the Spam King, and I have hidden 200 million dollars ($200,000,000) in a secret location in the USA. Since I have escaped from the prison and left the country to work for the Russian Mafia , I am not in a position to recover the money from that location. If you will help me recover my money, I will give you 25% of it. Please contact me at ivan@the_terrible.mafia.ru
  • by stewbacca ( 1033764 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:42AM (#24318523)

    1. Have Wife (sic) drive up to your cell

    2. Jump in wife's car

    3. ????

    4. Get Away! (Profit?)

  • by BobMcD ( 601576 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:53AM (#24318685)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Prison_Camp [wikipedia.org]

    This describes the one in Nevada. (I couldn't find the one in CO)

    Inmates, who dress in tan shirts and pants, may participate in a work program on Nellis AFB. The inmates typically perform janitorial services, cleaning floors, restrooms, and emptying trash from office buildings around the base. They also perform groundskeeping, and clean the base bowling alley. Each workcenter that uses inmate labor must assign an NCO or officer to monitor and direct the work throughout the day. These monitors receive a card after training (a video and lecture given by the correctional officers). The card authorizes monitors to transport the prisoners with them each morning (most weekdays) to their workcenters. Inmates are not allowed to leave the base to perform work. Inmates often say the work relieves the boredom they would otherwise face at the prison camp. The program saves taxpayers money that would otherwise be spent on contracted services or longer/less productive work hours by military personnel.

    And this is about the Women's one in WV:

    The camp comprises 105 acres (425,000 mÂ) of rolling hills. While there are no metal fences surrounding the camp, prisoners have schedules and must work. Free time is spent playing volleyball, softball or tennis.

    Most of the inmates at FPC Alderson have been convicted of non-violent or white-collar crime. They sleep in bunk beds in dormitories or in cottages.

  • 2nd amendment FTW (Score:5, Informative)

    by jcoleman ( 139158 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @10:56AM (#24318761)

    You're allowed to shoot escaped convicts on sight, right?

  • by Veni Vidi Dormi ( 975178 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @12:57PM (#24320851)
    "In real jail, your inbox is crammed with unsolicited male".

    http://talkback.zdnet.com/5208-12691-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=50057&messageID=938515&start=0
  • by joedoc ( 441972 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @02:06PM (#24322307) Homepage
    I was particularly astonished by the photo of this guy that they included in the story. Good heavens, he's guilty of sending out too many unwanted e-mails...yes, yes, I know, penny stock scams, yada-yada...

    But based on that mug shot, I would think was guilty of making Spam (the meat) out of his victims.

    Is this what I have to look forward to in my IT career? To end up looking like Jeffrey Dahmer?
  • by neko the frog ( 94213 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @06:23PM (#24326675)
    Urp. http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/16977886/detail.html [thedenverchannel.com]

    ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. -- A man, woman and toddler were shot to death and a teenage girl was wounded outside a home near Bennett Thursday in what an investigator called a "horrific" scene. Neighbors told The Denver Post that the man was 'Spam King' Edward "Eddie" Davidson and his family. The Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office said another infant appeared to be unharmed in the shooting.

  • by seeker_1us ( 1203072 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @06:51PM (#24327071)
    That's IT? What a fucking loser. He should have done world a favor and killed himself in jail. Saved taxpayers money on a manhunt and left his family alone.
  • Sad (Score:5, Insightful)

    by BCW2 ( 168187 ) on Thursday July 24, 2008 @07:29PM (#24327541) Journal
    Why do cowards always have to kill their families too? I hope this gutless bastard roasts in hell!

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