Ten people were indicted in U.S. District Court, charged with violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, today announced that indictments were filed against the following ten individuals in U.S. District Court in Cleveland, Ohio, charging them with violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act:
1. Robert L. Amos, age 43, of Astor, FL;
2. Christiano Budiman, age 35, of Elmhurst, NY;
3. Louis W. Daniels, age 44, of Maspeth, NY;
4. Leslie Lei, aka Leslie Louie, age 40, of New York City, NY;
5. Manuel Diaz Marta, age 30, of Dallas, TX;
6. John W. Moorhead, II, age 33, of Sterling, IL;
7. Jeffrey J. Reichert, age 27, of Northwood, OH;
8. William B. Silvius, age 53, of Homosassa, FL;
9. Hieu Trung Tran, aka Jack Lee, age 44, of San Antonio, TX; and
10. Adam Urban, age 24, of Wellesley, MA.
The indictments generally charge that the defendants knowingly manufactured, imported, offered to the public, or otherwise trafficked in technology, products, services, devices, components or parts thereof, which were primarily designed to circumvent technological measures designed to effectively control access to a work copyrighted under Title 17 of the United States Code, for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain.
If convicted, the defendants’ sentences will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to their case, including the defendants’ prior criminal records, if any, the defendants’ role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert W. Kern and Chelsea Rice of the Cleveland U.S. Attorney’s Office, following an investigation by the Cleveland Office of the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
