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Former Eugene Resident Sentenced to Prison for Criminal Copyright Infringement
April 16, 2001
Kristine Olson, United States Attorney for the District of Oregon, announced that Jeffrey Alan Stockton was sentenced today by United States Chief District Judge Michael R. Hogan, to serve 12 months and one day in prison based upon his conviction for criminal copyright infringement. He was also ordered to pay $101,178.00 in restitution to the victim of his crime, Adobe Systems Inc. On January 30, 2001, Mr. Stockton pled guilty to infringing copyrights of Adobe Systems Inc. In pleading guilty, Mr. Stockton admitted that he willfully infringed copyrights of Adobe Systems Inc. for purposes of private financial gain and that the commission of this offense resulted in a retail loss to Adobe Systems Inc. of $490,644.00.Mr. Stockton is 21 years of age and is an August 2000 graduate of the University of Oregon with a degree in journalism. He now resides in Honolulu, Hawaii, and is employed by the Inovaware Corporation, a software development company, as the Director of Corporate Communications.
The case arose while Mr. Stockton was a student in the School of Journalism at the University of Oregon in December of 1999. At that time the Eugene Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation became aware that he was selling copyrighted software on the Internet without the permission of the copyright holder, Adobe Systems Inc. On January 13, 2000, after an undercover investigation confirmed that Mr. Stockton, using an alias, was selling pirated software on the Internet, search warrants were served on his apartment, his post office box, his car, and a bank account. Pirated software, $4,600.00 in cash, and a substantial amount of computer equipment was seized from his apartment. Over $9,000.00 was also seized from his bank account.
In pleading guilty, Mr. Stockton agreed to pay full restitution to Adobe Systems Inc. and to forfeit a substantial amount of computer equipment which was used in the infringement of the copyrights. In addition to being sentenced to serve 12 months and one day in prison, Mr. Stockton was ordered to pay $87,391.81 in restitution to Adobe Systems. An additional $13,786.19 in seized cash has already been forfeited to the United States and will be remitted to Adobe Systems as part of Mr. Stockton’s restitution obligation. After being released from prison, Mr. Stockton will serve a three-year period of supervision when released from prison.
The case resulted from an investigation undertaken by the Eugene Police Department, the Oregon State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. For further information, please contact the United States Attorney’s Office at 541-465-6771.
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