The man known as “The Spam King” walked away from a minimum-security federal prison Sunday in Florence, [Colorado], and was last seen in [the Denver suburb] Lakewood.
Edward “Eddie” Davidson, 35, was sentenced in April to serve 21 months in prison for his role in sending hundreds of thousands of unsolicited fraudulent e-mails touting certain penny stocks as excellent investments. Davidson also was ordered to pay $714,139 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and to forfeit gold coins and other property he purchased with ill-gotten gains.
He’d been in the Florence, [Colorado] facility for about a month and a half when he escaped.
According to Lakewood police Tuesday, Davidson apparently escaped when his wife came to visit him Sunday in Florence. “He jumped in the car with his wife,” said Will Cochenour of the Lakewood police Tuesday. “When they were leaving, he forced her in the car, brought them home and left after a change in clothing. He’s still at large.”
It was not clear Tuesday whether Davidson or his wife was driving the vehicle from Florence to Lakewood.
Davidson was last seen leaving the home on South Fig Street on Sunday afternoon in his wife’s 2006 silver Toyota Sequoia.
U.S. Marshals are leading the search for Davidson, with the FBI, IRS and the Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force assisting. A warrant for Davidson was issued shortly after his escape.
Between 2002 and 2005, Davidson’s Power Promoters spamming network promoted watches, perfumes and other products, U.S. Attorney Troy Eid said. Then he started concentrating on a Texas company’s penny stock.
Eid and prosecutor Tim Neff said the e-mail messages Davidson and his subcontractors sent to hundreds of thousands of addresses contained false header information that concealed the actual sender.
The agreement that led to his guilty plea and 21-month sentence says Davidson, of Louisville,…