(NewsNation) — Five men who made millions in subscriptions to their illegal movie and TV streaming service may face prison time after their convictions last week.
A federal jury in Las Vegas convicted Kristopher Dallmann, Douglas Courson, Felipe Garcia, Jared Jaurequi, and Peter Huber of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. The jury also convicted Dallmann of two counts of money laundering by concealment and three counts of misdemeanor criminal copyright infringement.
“These convictions send the absolute right message: stealing is stealing whether it’s cars or copyrights,” former television academy chair and veteran TV writer Bryce Zabel told NewsNation. “No one has a right to take what doesn’t belong to them and sell it illegally.”
The Justice Dept. says the five ran Jetflicks, one of the largest illegal streaming services in the country. It charged users $9.99 a month for access to more than 180,000 TV episodes – more than Netflix, Hulu, Vudi and Amazon Prime Video combined.
“Their scheme generated millions of dollars in criminal profits while causing copyright owners to lose out,” said principal deputy assistant attorney general Nicole M. Argentieri in a news release.
Prosecutors say, that when movie and TV producers complained, the men tried to disguise Jetflicks as an aviation entertainment company.
“The Motion Picture Association applauds the Department of Justice for its successful prosecution of five individuals who brazenly and illegally profited by infringing upon copyrighted works,” Karyn Temple, an attorney for the Motion Picture Association, told Variety.
According to the Justice Dept., Courson, Garcia, Jaurequi, and Huber, each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and Dallmann faces a maximum penalty of 48 years in prison.
A former colleague of the five, Darryl Julius Polo, created a competing site called iStreamItAll. In 2019, Polo pleaded guilty to charges similar to the Jetflicks defendants. He was sentenced to just under five years and ordered to forfeit $1 million.
