Software Pirate Walks Federal Plank -- gets time in the brig

August 17, 2011

According to federal prosecutors, between July 2008 and January 2010, Jacinda Jones, 31, of Ypsilanti, Michigan, earned more than $400,000 by selling over 7,000 copies of pirated business software (from companies such as Microsoft, Adobe, Intuit, and Symantec) at discounted prices through the website  WWW.Cheapdl.com.   The retail value of the pirated software was estimated to be in excess of $2 million.

On April 20, 2011, Jones pleaded guilty in federal court in the Eastern District of Michigan to one count of willful copyright infringement.  She faced a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.   Jones agreed to a forfeiture of her criminal proceeds and restitution to the victims.

On August 15, 2011, Jones was sentenced to two years in prison and three years of supervised post-incarceration release; and ordered to pay $441,035 restitution.

Also read these Street Sweeper articles:

Quicken and Turbo Tax Pirate Headed for the Brig (June 8, 2011)

Feds Get Plea in Warez Case - remember Jerry, Kramer and Brody? (May 3, 2011)

CD Pirate Walks Federal Plank in Computer Gaming Case (December 30, 2010)