Two men from North Carolina are the first to be charged under Virginia’s new law designed to convict people who bombard Internet users with unwanted e-mails, according to authorities.

Jeremy Jaynes of Raleigh and Richard Rutowski of Cary each face four felony counts of fraudulently transmitting unsolicited bulk e-mail, according to Virginia Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore.

Although pinpointing jurisdiction can be difficult in Internet cases, Virginia is able to prosecute the two because many of the e-mail servers which handled the spam messages are located in Loudoun County, Va. The men are expected to be extradited to face charges there.

Spamhaus-dot-org, a database of known spammers, lists the alias “Gaven Stubberfield,” thought to be used by Jaynes, as number eight in its registry. The listing describes Stubberfield as part of a “non-stop group of porn spammers with T1 access,” sending “scam and porn spam around the clock.”

Jaynes is in custody. Rutowski has reportedly communicated with authorities and plans to surrender. Jaynes faces five years in prison and fines of up to $2,500 on each count if convicted.