37-year-old Patrick Lashun King was sentenced to 15 years in jail and an additional three under supervised released after pleading guilty to selling five counterfeit DVDs and a bootleg music CD to an undercover agent. King pleaded guilty to six counts of selling pirated material after the agent attempted to buy half-a-dozen homemade copies of media he wasn't authorized to sell.
Investigators searched King's home and business, and discovered 10,510 counterfeit discs along with the computer equipment authorities believe was used to produce the bootlegs. A number of weapons were also allegedly found, including an assault rifle from King's home in Hazlehurst, MS. Regardless, it's those six counts of piracy that will place King behind bars for the next 15 years.
According to Brad Buckles, executive vice president of anti-piracy for the RIAA, King's sentencing illustrates "that theft of intellectual property is treated as a serious crime in Mississippi.”
[via Disinformation]
