Ceglia hit with $5,000 fine as Facebook mulls dismissal request

A federal court judge has hit Paul Ceglia with a fine over delaying making his e-mails available in his case against Facebook.

According to Buffalo News, which attended the court hearing yesterday, Ceglia was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine for part of Facebook's attorney fees and expenses for trying to keep his e-mail messages out of his case against Facebook. U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie G. Foschio said in court yesterday that "the circumstances under which [Ceglia] attempted to avoid complying establishes a plain lack of respect for the court's order which cannot be countenanced."

Ceglia was ordered to hand over his e-mails accounts and passwords last August. After failing to do so, Facebook filed a motion in the U.S. District Court in Buffalo, N.Y. in October, requesting an order that compelled him to do so. That hearing also revealed that Ceglia's attorney at the time, Jeffrey Lake, was told by Ceglia that he wouldn't comply with the order.       More Read