State Rep. Matthew Bierlein today said Michigan recently conveyed a clear message to the intrusive robocall industry: “Sorry, we’re not interested.”

Michigan and seven other states won a court ruling permanently barring a notorious robocall scammer from operating. John Spiller owned and ran multiple robocall providers that made billions of calls to people across the country, regardless of whether or not they were on “Do Not Call” registries.

“I want to thank Attorney General Dana Nessel for her work to protect consumers from dangerous and illegal robocalls,” said Bierlein, of Vassar. “This is an issue I hear about frequently from people I represent. These calls harass us and are a nuisance in our daily lives. They prey on our most vulnerable populations, including Michigan’s seniors. This decision shows that our state is going to be a leader in protecting residents, holding bad actors accountable and halting this abusive conduct.”

Spiller was previously sidelined from making robocalls or engaging in marketing through a previous court order in 2023, but he formed new companies and operated under aliases to continue such contact.

Nessel announced the new court order now bars Spiller from starting any other telecommunications companies and permanently bans him from working with certain individuals who helped him engage in this violative conduct. The order also states Spiller cannot make any further deceptive representations using aliases in government filings and requires that he pay over $600,000 in attorney’s fees and costs to the states who joined in the litigation against him.

Bierlein is in his second term in the Michigan House serving the 97^th House District, which includes portions of Bay, Genesee, Saginaw and Tuscola counties.