Accused software pirates indicted
SACRAMENTO — A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted two recent Roseville residents on charges the pair conspired to commit copyright infringement by selling pirated software, even after receiving a cease-and-desist order from one of the victims.
This case is the product of an investigation by the FBI’s Cyber Squad.
According to Assistant United States Attorney Matthew D. Segal of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Unit, who is prosecuting the case, the indictment alleges that Nicholas Summerlin and Angelica Parson, both 22, sold illegal copies of Adobe Creative Suite Master Collection 3, Microsoft Office 2007, and Rosetta Stone language software.
According to the indictment, each defendant received a cease-and-desist letter from Rosetta Stone, but nonetheless continued selling pirated software. The indictment alleges that in 330 separate transactions between Oct. 27, 2008 and Oct. 21, 2009, Summerlin sold software with a combined retail value of no less than $561,430.
The indictment also charges Summerlin with two counts of criminal copyright infringement.
If convicted of the charges, Summerlin and Parson face a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison. The actual sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory sentencing factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
