Florence Man Sentenced To 18 Months For Illegally Copying Xbox 360 Video Game

COVINGTON, KY -

A Florence, KY., man, previously convicted of copyright infringement, was sentenced today to 18 months in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning sentenced 32 year-old Anthony Cappadona for willfully infringing a copyright, by distributing a copyrighted work being prepared for commercial distribution.

Cappandona previously admitted that, in May 2010, he made an Xbox 360 video game entitled “Red Dead Redemption,” available for download on a website, prior to the game’s official release date. Court records state that Cappadona illegally downloaded a copy of the game, then uploaded it to a website, and created links for others to download the game for free.

“Red Dead Redemption” is a copyrighted Xbox video game developed and manufactured by the company Take-Two Interactive; therefore, Cappadona violated copyright laws by improperly distributing the game.

According to court documents, Cappadona also advertised on the website that he modified Xbox consoles, so that they could play illegally copied games.

Under federal law, Cappadona must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence and will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for three years following his prison term.

Kerry B. Harvey, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Perrye Turner, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, and (Louisville Field Division) jointly announced the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by FBI. The U.S. Attorney’s Office was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Voorhees.