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Facebook’s ‘Spam King’ now hanging out at Google+

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Sanford Wallace, a.k.a. the ‘Spam King,’ surrendered to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation on Thursday after being indicted on criminal charges for sending millions of unsolicited messages on Facebook.

The U.S. Department of Justice said a federal grand jury in San Jose indicted Wallace, 43, of Las Vegas, on multiple counts of fraud, intentional damage to a protected computer and criminal contempt.

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Wallace appeared in court Thursday and was released on a $100,000 bond, according to the DOJ. His next court appearance is Aug. 22. He could get more than 16 years in prison if convicted.

His attorney, K.C. Maxwell, declined to comment.

Facebook was elated. ‘We applaud the efforts of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI to bring spammers to justice,’ Chris Sonderby, Facebook’s lead security and investigations counsel said in an e-mailed statement. ‘We’re hopeful that this kind of persistent pressure will act as a deterrent against those attempting to trick and annoy people on Facebook.’

Facebook sued Wallace in 2009 and won a $711-million civil judgment. As part of that judgment he was banned from Facebook.

Wallace has now taken up residence on Google+. In one post, he quips to his social circle of 25: ‘I’m allowed to use this platform :).’ Someone responded: ‘For now, lol.’

In his most recent post, he had this comment about his court appearance: ‘Interesting day to say the least.’

A Google spokeswoman said: ‘We don’t comment on individual profiles.’

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