Oakland Man Pleads Guilty to Counterfeit Media Scheme in Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. — Emilio Perez-Solis, 39, of Oakland, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit criminal copyright infringement and traffic in counterfeit labels, documentation and packaging, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to court documents, Perez-Solis used a building in a rural area of Fresno as a distribution point for counterfeit CDs and counterfeit DVDs. From the building, Perez-Solis sold counterfeit CDs and DVDs, including movies that were only in theatrical release and not yet available on DVD. On February 21, 2014, the building was searched and found to contain approximately 70,000 counterfeit music CDs and movie DVDs.

This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with assistance from the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Henry Z. Carbajal III and Patrick R. Delahunty are prosecuting the case.

Perez-Solis is currently in custody, and is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill on April 20, 2015. Perez-Solis faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.