Multistate Settlement Bars Car-Warranty Robocallers From Telemarketing
Eight state attorneys general obtained judgments shutting down a robocall operation alleged to have made millions of illegal automated calls in 2019 and 2020. John Spiller and business partner Jakob Mears, owners of Texas-based Rising Eagle Capital Group and JSquared Telecom, are now banned from all telemarketing, showed stipulated orders for Mears and Spiller released Monday.
The legal actions won’t stop all robocalls, but they will “significantly change the landscape,” said North Dakota AG Drew Wrigley (R). “These calls hammer our landlines and cell phones, invading our peace and enjoyment, and constantly interrupt and annoy us at the most inconvenient times,” he said. “These solicitations are illegal, and we are pleased to have taken these particular actors out of the robocall game, making them accountable and giving our residents some much welcomed relief.”
The judgments resulted from 2020 lawsuits by Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio and Texas. The state AGs alleged violations of the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Telemarketing Sales Rule, plus various state consumer protection laws.The FCC levied its largest fine ever -- $225 million -- against Rising Eagle and JSquared at the time states sued (see 2006090044). The defendants spoofed caller IDs, called people on do-not-call lists and carried out scams involving extended car warranties and health care services, the states claimed.
Under the multistate settlements, Mears and Spiller are banned from making or facilitating any robocalls, working in or with companies that robocall, and from doing any telemarketing. The court fined the defendants $244 million, but the payments will be mostly suspended in favor of the injunctions due to inability to pay. Spiller must still pay $50,000 within a year, while Mears must pay $10,000. The settlements also require defendants to conduct compliance reporting and keep business records.
Spiller, Mears and others made millions of robocalls, "advertising various goods and services to residential and/or cellular telephone numbers of residents located within the jurisdiction of the Plaintiffs and other states throughout the United States without the prior express consent of the called parties in violation of multiple sections of the TCPA and its implementing rules,” each stipulating order said. Spiller and Mears don't admit or deny any allegation, said the orders, which they signed. To resolve the action, they admitted “facts necessary to establish jurisdiction” and they waived their rights to appeal, the orders said.
North Carolina got more than 75 million robocalls from the defendants in 2019 and 2020, including about 34 million calls to numbers on the do-not-call list, said North Carolina AG Josh Stein (D).
“Winning the war on robocallers requires constantly staying on offense and tracking the latest technologies the scammers are using to carry out their schemes,” said Indiana AG Todd Rokita (R). The AGs’ case continues against others who worked with Spiller and Mears, including Florida-based Scott Shapiro, Michael Smith and Health Advisors of America, said his office.