(RALEIGH) --  The North Carolina Attorney General's office has won a court order permanently banning a Virginia telemarketing company from calling North Carolina telephone numbers. Attorney General Roy Cooper said Media Synergy Group, LLC of Richmond placed illegal telemarketing calls to North Carolina residents, including those on the Do Not Call Registry.

“We’re sending the message that we don’t tolerate telemarketers skirting the law and calling people who’ve said they don’t want to be bothered,” said Cooper. “When North Carolina consumers join the Do Not Call Registry, telemarketers need to respect their wishes.”

Wake County Superior Court Judge Lucy N. Inman agreed this week with Cooper’s request to enter a default judgment and permanent injunction against the company and its president Louis G. Anton. The court has also ordered the defendants to pay $421,500 in civil penalties to the state.