WASHINGTON - Michael Dwayne Logan, a 31-year-old Baltimore, Maryland man, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 21 months in prison in connection with his prior guilty plea to two counts of Unauthorized Recording of Motion Pictures in a Motion Picture Exhibition Facility, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich, Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy L. Lanier announced.

Logan was sentenced by the Honorable Richard W. Roberts, who also ordered that, following completion of the prison sentence, the defendant be placed on 12 months of supervised release, during which time he is not to enter any movie theater and is to be monitored by location monitoring technology for which Logan must pay the costs. The Court also ordered the defendant to perform 25 hours of community service. Lastly, the Court ordered the forfeiture and destruction of unauthorized copies of motion pictures and equipment used in the offense, including his video camera. Logan pled guilty to the federal charges in August 2008.

On November 27, 2007, Logan was placed under arrest by D.C. Metropolitan police officers as he was in the process of recording the Disney motion picture, Enchanted, at Regal Gallery Place Stadium 14, 701 7th Street, NW, Washington, D.C., following surveillance conducted by investigators of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), an industry trade group that represents major producers and distributors of entertainment, including motion picture studios. 

Logan’s high-definition video camera was seized incident to his arrest. According to the Statement of Offense, which was filed with the Court and agreed to by the defendant, forensic examination of the camera’s internal hard drive revealed that Logan had recorded approximately 50 minutes of the film. The analysis also revealed the presence of numerous similarities between Enchanted and pirated copies of other first run motion pictures acquired by MPAA. Illegal copies of 20th Century Fox’s 28 Weeks Later had been purchased by MPAA investigators on the streets of New York City on May 14 and 15, 2007. On those dates, the movie had been released in theaters and was not available from legitimate sources for private purchase. Forensic analysis revealed a pattern of activity establishing a connection between such pirated copies and Logan’s recording of “Enchanted.” During the plea proceedings, Logan admitted that he had videotaped the movie, 28 Weeks Later, at its theatrical release at Regal Gallery Place Stadium 14 on May 11, 2007.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Taylor, Acting Assistant Attorney General Friedrich, FBI Assistant Director Persichini, and MPD Chief Lanier commended the work of FBI Special Agent Paige Pinson and FBI Analyst Susan Dennison, both of the Washington Field Office, and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department as well as the staff of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Legal Assistant Lisa Robinson. They also commended Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sherri L. Schornstein and Jonathan W. Haray and Trial Attorney Clement McGovern of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, who prosecuted the case. They also acknowledged the efforts of the Motion Picture Association of America in referring this matter to law enforcement and supporting the prosecution efforts.