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June 24, 2004
The United States Attorney for the Northern District of California announced today that Michael Anthony Bradley, 32, of Oak Park, California, was arraigned today in federal court in San Jose on an indictment charging him with extortion and wire fraud in connection with a software program he claimed could allow spammers to defraud Google of millions of dollars.
The indictment, which was returned yesterday by a federal grand jury in San Jose, charges Mr. Bradley with one count of Interference with Commerce by Threats in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a) and ten counts of Wire Fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343. The maximum statutory penalty for each violation is 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. However, any sentence following conviction would be dictated by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of factors, and would be imposed in the discretion of the Court.
Mr. Bradley pled not guilty to the charges in a proceeding this morning before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia V. Trumbull in San Jose. Further proceedings in the matter are scheduled before U.S. District Court Judge James Ware on June 28, 2004, at 1:30 p.m. Mr. Bradley remains free on a $50,000 appearance bond and on the conditions that he refrain from any use of computers and avoid all contact with Google and its employees.
According to the indictment, and a previously unsealed criminal complaint filed on March 18, Mr. Bradley devised a scheme to defraud and extort money from Google by claiming to have developed a software program that automated fraudulent "clicks" on "cost-per-click" advertisements utilized by Google. These fraudulent clicks were designed to cause Google to make payments that were supposed to be made only for "clicks" made by legitimate Web surfers. The defendant allegedly claimed that he would sell the software to top spammers if Google did not pay him approximately $150,000, and that Google could lose millions. Special Agents from the United States Secret Service arrested Mr. Bradley on March 18, 2004, at Google's offices in Mountain View, California.
An indictment and criminal complaint simply contain allegations against an individual and, as with all defendants, Mr. Bradley must be presumed innocent unless and until convicted.
The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the United States Secret Service, San Jose Resident Office, and was overseen by the Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP) Unit of the United States Attorney's Office. Christopher P. Sonderby, Chief of the CHIP Unit, is the Assistant United States attorney who is prosecuting the case.
Google cooperated fully in this investigation.
A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney's Office's website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.
All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney's Office should be directed to Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher P. Sonderby at (408) 535-5037, or Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Jacobs at (415) 436-7181.
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