The whole story is bizarre, but that tidbit was just bonkers. How the hell did they convince a judge that it was ok to go wreck this poor woman's house/yard in hope is digging up some hidden precious metals that her son evidently buried there? I'm speechless.
AOL used to go hard against spammers back in the day and during their peak years. 2005 fits into that for sure. This was during the time Time Warner was merged with them so they basically had huge team of lawyers and unlimited money bank roll to mess with people.
Being "that judge who wouldn't let them go after some nazi's ill gotten gains" is a great way to dead end your career if you're a Massachusetts judge. The Massachusetts judiciary is very politically minded. Other states are different.
