Last Friday, US District Judge Andrew Carter ruled that the court will move forward with the case against Paul Ceglia, who has earlier sought legal action against Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to allegedly uphold a promise for a sizeable share in the highly-successful social network.
Carter had told the court, including Ceglia's lawyers that the grand jury indictment was able to lay out allegations that warranted a trial against their client and stated that false statements are not protected by the First Amendment. Earlier, the Wall Street Journal said in its report that Ceglia's legal camp filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit against their client and reasoned that their client has no intention to commit fraud and upheld his statements as a First Amendment right.
The case against Ceglia was reportedly spurred by his own doing. Ceglia has filed a claim against Zuckerburg in 2010 and insisted that the Facebook founder promised him at least a 50% share in the social network, which was then known as an early-stage "The Face Book." Prosecutors argued that Ceglia doctored one of the pages of the contract he has with Zuckerberg and replaced it with one that stated that the Facebook founder agreed with the Facebook share deal.
WSJ said that Ceglia has pleaded not guilty with the federal charges against him. On the other hand, his original civil lawsuit against Facebook that was filed at a Buffalo, New York court is still ongoing.
David Patton, the court-appointed lawyer for Ceglia, said during oral arguments on Friday that the lawsuit against his client was troubling considering that his civil lawsuit has yet to reach a verdict. He told the court, "The idea the government can come in and prosecute someone for the subject at issue in the civil litigation is troubling."
On the other hand, Assistant US Attorney Christopher Frey reasoned that it was proper for the state to file a lawsuit against Ceglia on the basis that he allegedly falsified documents with the intention to commit fraud, WSJ said. If convicted, Ceglia could face up to a maximum of 40 years in jail for one count of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud.
