Two Fresno men pleaded guilty today to a slew of federal charges for their part in a spam stock fraud scheme.

The pair entered guilty pleas in a federal courtroom in Detroit along with so-called Michigan spam King Alan Ralsky, who sent out millions of span emails to create excitement about Chinese stocks.

The conspirators also engaged in money laundering involving millions of dollars generated by their manipulative stock trading.

John S. Bown, 45, of Fresno, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud and to violate the CAN-SPAM Act.

He also pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit computer fraud by creating a botnet and violating the CAN-SPAM Act. A botnet is a network of computers that have been infected by malicious software. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Bown acknowledges he is facing up to 63 months in prison and a $75,000 fine under the federal sentencing guidelines.

William C. Neil, 46, of Fresno, pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the CAN-SPAM Act and violating the CAN-SPAM Act. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Neil acknowledges he is facing up to 37 months in prison and a $30,000 fine under the federal sentencing guidelines.

According to court records, from January 2004 through September 2005, Ralsky, Scott Bradley, Judy Devenow, Bown, William Neil, Anki Neil, James Bragg, Fite, Peter Severa, How Wai John Hui, Francis Tribble, and others engaged in a related set of conspiracies designed to use spam e-mails to manipulate thinly traded stocks and profit by trading in those stocks once their share prices increased after recipients of the spam e-mails traded in the stocks being promoted.

The defendants were indicted in the Eastern District of Michigan in December 2007.
The case against Anki Neil, also of Fresno, is still pending.

Ralsky served as the chief executive officer and primary deal maker for the spam e-mail operation. Bradley, Ralsky's son-in-law, served as the chief financial officer and director of operations for the spam e-mail operation.

Bown, who was chief executive officer of an Internet services company, GDC Layer One, served as the chief technology officer for the spam e-mail operation. William Neil, who was an employee of GDC Layer One, built and maintained a computer network used to transmit spam e-mails as part of the conspiracy. Fite was a contract spammer who hired others to send spam e-mails as part of the conspiracy.