Former cell phone company executive convicted of text message scam
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. jury on Friday found the former chief executive of mobile aggregation company Mobile Messenger guilty of defrauding mobile phone customers by charging them millions of dollars for unwanted text messages.
Darcy Wedd, 40, was convicted in Manhattan federal court of wire fraud and conspiracy charges after a two-week trial, the office of Acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim in Manhattan said. The charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to Kim's office.
Robert Caliendo, a lawyer for Wedd, declined to comment on the verdict, which came after Wedd's third trial. The first two ended with hung juries.
Prosecutors accused Wedd and several other people of signing up phone customers for paid text messaging services without their consent. They said the scheme resulted in hundreds of thousands of customers being charged more than $100 million for text messages that included trivia, horoscopes and celebrity gossip.
Darcy Wedd, 40, was convicted in Manhattan federal court of wire fraud and conspiracy charges after a two-week trial, the office of Acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim in Manhattan said. The charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to Kim's office.
Robert Caliendo, a lawyer for Wedd, declined to comment on the verdict, which came after Wedd's third trial. The first two ended with hung juries.
Prosecutors accused Wedd and several other people of signing up phone customers for paid text messaging services without their consent. They said the scheme resulted in hundreds of thousands of customers being charged more than $100 million for text messages that included trivia, horoscopes and celebrity gossip.
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