Inmate Magazine Service, Inc.

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Last Updated:
Case Status:
Pending
Federal Trade Commission and Office of the Attorney General, State of Florida, Department of Legal Affairs, Plaintiffs, v. Inmate Magazine Service, Inc., a Wyoming corporation; 318 LLC, a Florida limited liability company (“318 Florida”); 318 LLC, a Wyoming limited liability company (“318 Wyoming”); Inmate Magazine Service of N.A. LLC, a Wyoming limited liability company; Inmate Magazines Plus.Com of N.A., LLC, a Wyoming limited liability company; and Roy Snowden, individually and as an officer, member, manager, or owner of Inmate Magazine Service, Inc., 318 Florida, and 318 Wyoming, Defendants.
FTC Matter/File Number:

202 3089

Civil Action Number:

3:21cv294-TKW-HTC

Enforcement Type:

Federal Injunctions

Federal Court:
Northern District of Florida

Case Summary

The owner and operator of Inmate Magazine Service, a company that scammed prisoners and their families by charging them for magazine subscriptions that either showed up late or not at all, will be permanently banned from selling or marketing magazine subscriptions.

Under the terms of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and the Florida Office of Attorney General, Roy Snowden, who owned and operated a number of businesses that operated as Inmate Magazine Service, will also be required to surrender the contents of multiple bank accounts.

The FTC and Florida’s complaint against Snowden and his companies alleged that they marketed magazine subscriptions to consumers serving prison sentences, as well as their families, offering to send the magazines to the prisoners while they were incarcerated and promising the magazines would arrive within 120 days.

In many cases, the magazines never arrived or were delivered far later than promised, with no notification to the consumers about delayed shipment or the chance to cancel their orders as required by the FTC’s Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule. The complaint also alleged that consumers were almost never able to contact the company to request refunds or status updates on orders.