Ryan Pitylak to pay $7.5 million fine to Texas

Just when I thought Ryan Pitylak had gotten a slap on the wrist, I see some good news from Texas.

It's a legal document entitled "Final Judgement and Order for Permanent Injuction and Monetary Relief" (scanned pdf, 33 pages) from the office of the Attorney General in Texas.

To summarize: named are Ryan Pitylak and partners Mark Trotter, Gary Trappler, and Alan Rafaeli. Very strict restrictions are placed on them with respect to future commercial emails (to my eye, they're required to obey the CAN SPAM law). Very strict restrictions are placed against them with respect to business record keeping, reporting, and so on.

But the big news is the penalties: LeadPlex, Inc. Payperaction LLC, and Eastmark Technology (Pitylak's businesses) are ordered to pay $7.5 million in civil penalties. Pitylak is personally ordered to pay $225,000 in legal costs. Pitylak will also pay $1 million in civil penalties if he fails to pay the legal costs, spams again, or is found to have lied about his assets. Mark Trotter and Alan Refaeli are each ordered to pay $40,000. Claims against Gary Trappler were dismissed.

More coverage in the Houston Chronical.