February 26, 2007 - United States Attorney Patrick L. Meehan today announced the filing of an information* against Warren Greene, charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit criminal infringement of copyright, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. The information charges that from October 2002 to on or about July 29, 2003, defendant Warren Greene operated a store in New Hope, Pennsylvania named Spinsters Records from which he sold bootleg (unauthorized recordings of live performances), pirated (compilation of music from different sources), counterfeit (exact duplicates of legitimate recordings) and other illegitimate CDs, DVD’s and vinyl records to the public.
The information charges that Greene conspired with others known and unknown to the United States Attorney to willfully and for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain, infringe the copyrights of various music recordings, by the unauthorized possession, distribution and trafficking of the above-described recordings during a 180-day period of more than ten copies of one or more copyrighted works which had a total retail value of more than $2,500, that is, approximately $120,0000.
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DEFENDANT |
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AGE [Date of Birth] |
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Warren Greene |
Pennsylvania |
55 |
If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of 5 years imprisonment, three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment. The case was investigated by agents from the United States Secret Service, and the United States Postal Inspection Service, with assistance from investigative associates of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and has been assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Thomas M. Zaleski.
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UNITED
STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE |
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*An Indictment or Information is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Benjamin Franklin Photo by B. Krist for the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation