Adam Vitale, 26, pled to charges of working with co-conspirators in a scheme that violated the Can Spam Act, the federal anti-spam e-mail law, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York. He faces a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

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The government reported that during his guilty plea, Vitale admitted that he tried to hide the spam's true origin using "whatever means necessary," including altering the e-mail's header information.

Government investigators used a confidential informant to communicate and set up a deal with both Vitale and his cohort, Todd Moeller. Between April and August 2005, Vitale and Moeller boasted to the informant over instant messaging about their ability to send large amounts of spam that would be nearly impossible to trace. Prosecutors also reported that Vitale and Moeller claimed they had the ability to defeat AOL's spam filter.

The informant, according to the government, offered the men the opportunity to send out spam advertising a product he purportedly wanted to sell. Moeller and Vitale agreed to do it for a 50% cut of the profits. Between Aug. 17 and Aug. 23 2005, they sent out spam to about 1.2 million AOL subscribers.

The case is being prosecuted by the Computer Hacking/Intellectual Property group of the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Brown is leading the prosecution.