February 17, 2009

Texas man sentenced to 41 months for $1 million in counterfeit software sales on Web sites

WASHINGTON - Timothy Kyle Dunaway, 24, of Wichita Falls, Texas, was sentenced today to 41 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Reed O'Connor in Wichita Falls for selling counterfeit computer software on the Internet in violation of criminal copyright infringement laws, Acting Assistant Attorney General Rita M. Glavin of the Criminal Division and Acting U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks for the Northern District of Texas announced. The software sold by Dunaway had a combined retail value of more than $1 million. The case was investigated by the multi-agency National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Cyber Crimes Center and Dallas Office of Investigations.

Dunaway was also sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $810,257 in restitution. Judge O'Connor also ordered Dunaway to forfeit a Ferrari 348 TB and a Rolex watch purchased with illegal proceeds of the scheme. Dunaway pleaded guilty in Wichita Falls on Oct. 30, 2008, to one count of criminal copyright infringement for selling pirated business software on the Internet.

According to court documents, from July 2004 through May 2008, Dunaway operated approximately 40 Web sites that sold a large volume of downloadable counterfeit software without authorization from the copyright owners. Dunaway admitted he operated computer servers in Vienna, Austria, and Malaysia. ICE agents, working in cooperation with foreign law enforcement, seized Dunaway's international computer servers. According to court documents, Dunaway promoted his illicit scheme by purchasing advertising for his Web sites from major Internet search engines. Throughout the entire course of the scheme, the defendant processed more than $800,000 dollars through credit card merchant accounts under his control.

As the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, ICE plays a leading role in targeting criminal organizations responsible for manufacturing, smuggling, and distributing counterfeit products. ICE manages the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, which plays a pivotal role in the U.S. government's domestic and international law enforcement attack on IPR violations. The IPR Center is the federal government's central point of contact in the fight against counterfeiters and trademark violators. Federal partners effectively use their authorities and resources to attack the international problem of counterfeit, tainted and substandard goods.

For more information on the IPR Center, go to: www.ICE.gov

To report a tip on counterfeiting, call: (866) IPR-2060

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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