The U.S. Department of Justice has confirmed that Edward "Eddie" Davidson, 35, a notorious pump-and-dump spammer sentenced to 21 months in a federal prison, has escaped from the minimum security facility in which he was serving his time and is currently being pursued by the FBI, IRS and Colorado law enforcement agencies.

Sometime on Sunday, July 20, Davidson, a Colorado resident, apparently walked away from the Florence, Colo., federal minimum security campus where he was sent for his crimes in late April by Court Judge Marcia S. Krieger.

Davidson was a mastermind behind a large-scale penny stock pump-and-dump scam effort propagated via spam e-mails. After buying penny stocks and sending massive spam campaigns espousing some reason or other for people to buy the securities, he would sell his shares at a profit once the involved stocks had risen. He also spearheaded other spam runs aimed at selling cheap consumer products.

According to a report by the Denver Post, the state's minimum security institutions, also known as FPCs (Federal Prison Camps), "have dormitory housing, a relatively low staff-to-inmate ratio, and are work and program-oriented. FPCs are generally located adjacent to larger institutions, where inmates help serve the labor needs of the larger institution."

Along with the prison term, Davidson was ordered to undergo three years of supervised release for sending massive amounts of spam e-mail messages and running an illegal investment scheme. Krieger also ordered Davidson to pay $714,139 in restitution to the IRS, including the sale of a large collection of gold coins that the agency was interestingly set to auction off today.

I wonder if anyone checked the crowd for familiar-looking bidders.

Davidson was initially indicted by a grand jury on in June 2007 and pled guilty before Judge Krieger on Dec. 3, 2007.

According to the federal charges, from July 5, 2002, to April 15, 2007, Davidson conducted a business in Colorado using the name Power Promoters whose stated business consisted of providing promotional services for companies by sending large volumes of unsolicited spam.

The spamming was designed to promote the visibility and sale of products offered by various companies, and Davidson also hired other individuals to provide spamming at his direction on behalf of his clients.

From 2002 through the middle of 2005, Davidson's spamming activities were pursued on behalf of companies to promote watches, perfume and other items.

However, beginning in the middle of 2005 and continuing through 2006, Davidson sent spam on behalf of a Texas company for purposes of promoting the sale of the company's stock. The company generated its own income through pump-and-dump schemes, selling stock on behalf of small companies.

According to the charges, Davidson sent hundreds of thousands of unsolicited e-mail messages to potential buyers throughout the United States and the world, touting the value of the involved stock. Altogether Davidson provided spammed messages for approximately 19 different companies.

The case was investigated by the FBI Denver field office and the IRS Criminal Investigation division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Neff prosecuted the case.

I mean, I know even minimum security prison is probably pretty harsh, but would you really want the FBI and IRS on your tail? Yikes.

Matt Hines has been following the IT industry for over a decade as a reporter and blogger, and has been specifically focused on the security space since 2003, including a previous stint writing for eWEEK and contributing to the Security Watch blog. Hines is currently employed as marketing communications manager at Core Security Technologies, a Boston-based maker of security testing software. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of Core Security, and neither the company, nor its products and services will be actively discussed in the blog. Please send news, research or tips to SecurityWatchBlog@gmail.com.