In David Whitaker, 36, was recently sentenced in Rhode Island in the US to more than five years in jail and ordered to pay $10 million. He had pleaded guilty in 2008 in an online fraud case in which he duped individuals and companies of millions of dollars through his online consumer electronics firm, Mixitforme, Inc.
According to a Reuters report, Whitaker had formed the company in Rhode Island three years prior to his plea.
As part of an agreement with prosecutors, says Reuters in the report, Whitaker assisted federal agents in an investigation into Google that led to a $500 million settlement by the company in August. The probe focused on advertisements for prescription drugs that were illegally imported into the United States from Canada.
"He played a significant role in that investigation," said Jim Martin, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Rhode Island, without describing exactly how Whitaker was able to help prosecutors, according to the Reuters report.
Whitaker was sentenced to 70 months in prison and ordered to pay victims more than $10 million, including $7.8 million to various businesses and $2.2 million to a credit card processing company, Martin said.
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