Nintendo announced that Gary Bowserthe man accused of creating and selling circumvention devices that allow users to play illegal ROMs on consoles, including Switch and 3DS, was sentenced to 40 months in prison.
Bowser was a member of a hacking group called Team-Xecuter, which in 2013 began creating and selling evasion devices that allow users to reproduce Illegal ROMs on consoles. According to the U.S. government, the group’s criminal enterprise generated tens of millions of dollars in sales and resulted in losses of up to 150 million dollars for companies that are victims of the fact.
In a statement released on February 10, Nintendo said it “appreciate the hard work and tireless efforts of federal prosecutors and law enforcement agencies to curb illegal activities on a global scale that cause great harm to Nintendo and the video game industry“.
The official press release in question continues as follows:
In particular, Nintendo would like to thank the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) of the Department of Homeland Security, the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, the US Department of Homeland Security The Crime Section IT and Intellectual Property of Justice and the Office of International Affairs of the Department of Justice for their significant contributions and assistance.
Bowser was arrested in September 2020 and appeared in court last October with thecharge of eleven offenses. Instead of facing trial, he pleaded guilty to two counts and offered to pay Nintendo 4.5 million dollars. Nintendo originally asked for a 5-year prison sentence for the hacker.
Gary Bowser’s legal team had asked the court to impose a sentence on 19 months in prison, who would see him released in three months, given the time already served. In a separate civil lawsuit, Bowser was sentenced to pay Nintendo a ‘an additional $ 10 million fine for its part in selling console mods.
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