Internet spammer was arrested at his home

A Minnesota man considered one of the world's most prolific e-mail spammers was indicted on more than a dozen federal charges related to the operation of his business, Xpress Pharmacy Direct.

The indictment against Christopher William Smith, 25, was unsealed Wednesday after he was arrested at his home in Prior Lake. Dr. Philip Mach, 47, of Franklin Park, New Jersey, and Bruce Jordan Lieberman, 45, from Farmingdale, New York, were also charged in the indictment, federal prosecutors said. The grand jury alleged that Smith provided prescription drugs without making sure customers had a valid prescription. The orders were obtained through spam e-mails, Internet sites and telemarketing. The indictment contains various counts of conspiracy to dispense controlled substances, wire fraud, money laundering, distributing controlled substances and introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce.

Xpress Pharmacy generated millions of dollars. The indictment claims that from March 2004 to May 2005 the operation generated sales of more than $20 million from medications containing a single addictive painkiller, hydrodone.

Smith appeared Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Janie Mayeron, who ordered him held without bond. An arraignment and detention hearing was scheduled for Friday, reported AP.