Florida resident Timothy Livingston has been sentenced by a US district court to 48 months in prison for computer hacking, identify theft, and email fraud. A US Department of Justice (DoJ) release said Livingston made more than $1.3 million in illegal profits through his hack scheme.

The DoJ reports he launched A Whole Lot of Nothing LLC in 2011 with the purpose of sending bulk spam emails, both legal and illegal, on behalf of clients. His clients included insurance companies and online pharmacies, which illegally sold medicine. His accomplice, Tomasz Chmielarz, wrote computer programs that would allow him to send bulk emails, evading filters and keeping the sender's identity secret.

Livingston also hacked personal email accounts and committed identity theft. He then used corporate, as well as proxy, servers and botnets to send out the emails.

Read full DoJ report here.