Everybody’s favorite Facebook troll is back and this time, he’s the one paying.
The Buffalo News is reporting that Paul Ceglia has been ordered by a judge to pay a $5,000 as he has been found in contempt. U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie G. Foschio ruled that Ceglia had to pay the fee and part of Facebook’s attorney fees and expenses because he didn’t provide Facebook information about his personal email accounts.
“The circumstances under which [Ceglia] attempted to avoid complying establishes a plain lack of respect for the court’s order which cannot be countenanced,” Foschio said in his ruling.
The court order was issued in August and it makes me wonder why Ceglia wasn’t held in contempt sooner for obstructing the long, drawn out case of the man who claims to own half of the company.
Ceglia’s lawyers, who have dropped the case, documented his refusal to comply with the simple court order. In the document, the lawyers said they did everything they could to get Ceglia to comply with the order.
“For whatever reasons, [Ceglia], fully advised by his attorneys not to do so, chose to knowingly ignore the unambiguous orders of the court,” Foschio said in his ruling.
As part of the ruling, the judge also rejected Ceglia’s request for sanctions against Facebook.
Ceglia only agreed to turn over the email account information after he was ordered to by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
The legal fight between Facebook and Ceglia has been going on for a few years now. Hopefully the case will be resolved when Facebook motions to have the suit dismissed soon.