Brian Bowling reports:
The dark side of the Internet provided Ryan Neil Green with a satisfaction that was missing in his life.
Green was a licensed plumber who was more interested in computers than pipes. Using his computer skills, authorities say he conspired with others to help infect at least 77,000 computers, turning them into a botnet that was sold to someone else who used the hijacked computers to send out spam emails.
[…]
Schwab sentenced Green, 32, of the Paducah, Ky., area to two years of probation and 50 hours of community service.
A prison sentence would have kept Green from providing for his daughter and would have interrupted the service Green provides through his business, Rygre Digital Marketing, the judge said.
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