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Press Release
For Immediate Release
January 29, 2001

 

 TEMPLE HILLS MAN SENTENCED FOR CONSPIRACY TO DISTRIBUTE
23,892 BOOTLEG VIDEOCASSETES AND 58,975 COMPACT DISCS

January 29, 2001

Stephen M. Schenning, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced that Roger West Bynum, age 54, of Temple Hills, Maryland was sentenced on Friday, January 26, 2001, to 24 months in prison by District Court Judge Deborah K. Chasanow, for conspiring to distribute bootleg videotapes of motion picture recordings and compact discs of musical recordings. Judge Chasanow also ordered the defendant to pay restitution of $172,500 to the Motion Picture Association of America and $290,000 to the Recording Industry Association of America.

Bynum was indicted on felony charges of conspiracy and copyright infringement on August 23, 1999 and pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy on March 1, 2000. The evidence included 23,892 videocassettes and 58,975 compact audio discs seized by the Prince George’s County Police in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on July 29, 1999.

United States Attorney Schenning said: "Criminals who traffic in counterfeit merchandise harm the copyright holders who are deprived of control over their work and also damage consumers who wind up with inferior merchandise."

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. The United States Customs Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT MARCY MURPHY
(410) 209-4854

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