Thomas A. Marino, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that an Information was filed today charging a Wilkes-Barre man with copyright infringement for copying numerous motion pictures and selling them for profit.
Marino stated that Kenneth Marsola, age 30, of Wilkes-Barre allegedly committed the offense during August 2005 through May 2007. The Information alleges that Marsola, aided by another person, illegally infringed the copyrights of several motion pictures, including Troy, Gridiron Gang, Cheaper by the Dozen, Superman Returns, The Hitcher, Saw, Saw II, Saw III, Toy Story, Forest Gump, and Mission Impossible. The Information alleges that the total retail value of the copyrighted works was in excess of $10,000. Marino noted that the filing of the Information against Marsola resulted from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Marsola, if convicted of the charge, faces a potential maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, a three-year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
Marino noted that Assistant United States Attorney Francis P. Sempa is prosecuting the case.
An indictment and criminal information is not evidence of guilt but simply a description of the charge made by the United States Attorney against a defendant. A charged defendant is presumed innocent until a jury returns a unanimous finding that the United States has proved the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
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