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For Immediate Release Press Release April 16, 2003 |
U.S. Department
of Justice United States Attorney Southern District of New York James B. Comey
|
Leader of Massive Video Piracy Ring Sentenced in
Manhattan Federal Court
|
JAMES B. COMEY, the United States Attorney for the Southern
District of New York, announced that SULAIMAN BAH, a leader of a massive operation
that produced and sold counterfeit videotapes, was sentenced today in Manhattan
federal court to 46 months in prison.
MOHAMED BAH, the other leader of the video piracy ring, also received a 46-month
prison term when he was sentenced in February 2003. The sentences, imposed
by United States District Judge LORETTA A. PRESKA, are believed to be among
the longest ever imposed for counterfeiting of videotapes.
According to the charges, the case grew out of an investigation begun by the
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) following a complaint
in August 1998 that pirated videotapes of copyrighted motion pictures were
being sold from a storeroom at the Big Apple Storage facility at 119 East
124th Street in Manhattan(BIG APPLE).
According to the charges, on September 8, 1999, FBI agents executed a search
warrant at a warehouse in Yonkers, New York, which was being used by SULAIMAN
and MOHAMED BAH and their co-conspirators as a factory for making counterfeit
videotapes. At the warehouse, agents recovered approximately 2,000 counterfeit
videocassettes of first-run motion pictures that were not yet lawfully available
on videotape, more than 11,000 blank videocassettes, more than 300 video cassette
recorders that were being used to create the counterfeit cassettes, and packaging
material to make the cassettes look authentic. Among the counterfeit videotapes
recovered at the Yonkers warehouse were American Pie, The
Mummy, and Bowfinger.
The following day, according to the charges, the FBI executed a search warrant
at a storeroom at BIG APPLE, where FBI agents seized approximately 1,000 videocassettes
of first-run motion pictures that were not yet lawfully available on videotape,
including The Thomas Crown Affair, The Blair Witch Project,
and Tarzan.
SULAIMAN BAH and MOHAMED BAH were indicted on November 23, 1999, along with
co-defendants Cheickna Bathuily and Mamadou Barry. The case was scheduled
for trial before Judge PRESKA on November 6, 2001, but SULAIMAN BAH and MOHAMED
BAH failed to appear and remained fugitives until they were found and arrested
outside Atlanta, Georgia. SULAIMAN BAH was arrested by the DeKalb County Sheriffs
Office in Georgia on January 1, 2002. MOHAMED BAH was arrested by the United
States Marshals Service in Georgia on March 15, 2002. MOHAMED BAH and SULAIMAN
BAH subsequently pled guilty to the charges in the Indictment in late 2002.
Cheickna Bathuily and Mamadou Barry pled guilty to conspiracy charges in November
2001. Barry was sentenced by Judge PRESKA in March 2002 to 10 months in prison.
Bathuily is scheduled to be sentenced on May 6, 2003.
SULAIMAN BAH and MOHAMED BAH pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to traffic
in counterfeit videotapes of first-run motion pictures, one count of trafficking
in counterfeit videotapes and one count of intentional copyright infringement.
In addition to being sentenced to the 46-month prison term, the BAHs were
jointly ordered to pay $1,272,580 in restitution to the Motion Picture Association
of America.
In July 1999, the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the United States Customs
Service announced the establishment of a law enforcement initiative aimed
at combating the growing challenge of piracy and counterfeiting of intellectual
property, both domestically and internationally. This case sprung from that
initiative.
SULAIMAN BAH, 35, resides in the Bronx, New York.
MOHAMED BAH, 34, resides in the Bronx, New York.
Mr. COMEY praised the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
the Yonkers Police Department and the New York City Police Department, and
thanked the Motion Picture Association of America for its cooperation and
assistance in the investigation. Mr. COMEY also praised the Marshals Service
and the DeKalb County Sheriffs Office in Georgia for their assistance
in apprehending the BAHs after they fled shortly before trial.
Assistant United States Attorneys PAUL B. RADVANY and JONATHAN S. ABERNETHY
are in charge of the prosecution.
03-88
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