United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello
  Northern District of California

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                     CONTACT:    JOSHUA EATON
May 14, 2008                                                                                                  (415) 436-6958   

WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN                                                               Josh.Eaton@usdoj.gov

TWO SITE OPERATORS RECEIVE PRISON TERMS FOR CRIMINAL COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
Forty Defendants Convicted In Operation Copycat To Date; Substantial Forfeitures and Restitution Ordered

SAN FRANCISCO - U.S. Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced today that Chirayu Patel, 26, of Fremont, Calif., and William Veyna, 37, of Chatsworth, Calif., were both sentenced to prison terms on Monday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., on charges of criminal copyright infringement. Patel was sentenced to a term of 18 months in prison and Veyna to 15 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Ronald M. Whyte. They also were both ordered to serve a three year term of supervised release following their release from prison, a mandatory special assessment of $200, and the forfeiture of computer and other equipment used in committing the copyright offenses. Both defendants were each ordered to pay restitution, under joint and several liability, in the total amount of $969,001.20.

The case is part of Operation Copycat, an investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office targeting online warez groups, which illegally distribute newly-released movies, games, software and music online. Operation Copycat has resulted in 40 convictions thus far and is part of a larger federal crackdown against the illegal online distribution of copyrighted materials known as Operation Site Down.

On October 11, 2005, Veyna pleaded guilty and on November 14, 2005, Patel pleaded guilty separately to conspiring to commit criminal copyright infringement, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371; and committing copyright infringement by electronic means and Aiding and Abetting, in violation of 17 U.S.C. § 506(a)(1)(B), 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 2319(c)(1). Based on information in the court record, the two defendants shared site operator responsibilities on the warez server VS (aka Victoria Secret) and VS2. As site operators, they were responsible for maintaining, administering and supporting the warez sites and controlling the daily operations of the site and server.

Operation Copycat has resulted in a substantial number of forfeitures, including approximately 157 Central Processing Units; 15 laptops/notebooks; 40 PlayStation and XBOX players; 5,343 CD/DVD roms; 414 VHS Tapes and floppies; 3 CD/DVD players, 27 keyboard monitors; 5 digital cameras and video cameras; 15 I-pods; in addition to other equipment.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark L. Krotoski prosecuted the case with the support of Paralegal Lauri Gomez. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hanley Chew and Shawna Yen have also assisted on the prosecution of other defendants convicted in Operation Copycat. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hinds and Paralegal Alicia Chin provided essential assistance on the forfeitures in the case.

Further Information:

A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney's Office's website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.

Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

Judges' calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court's website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.

All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney's Office should be directed to Joshua Eaton at (415) 436-6958 or by email at Josh.Eaton@usdoj.gov.