Brothers Sentenced for Selling More Than $6 Million in Pirated Software

Two brothers were sentenced today in federal court to 30 months and three years in prison for selling massive amounts of pirated computer software.

At the federal court in Alexandria, Va., U.S. District Court Judge Claude M. Hilton sentenced Maurice A. Robberson, 48, to three years in prison and ordered him to pay $855,917 in restitution while his brother Thomas K. Robberson, 55, was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay $151,488 in restitution. On Nov. 7, 2007, Maurice Robberson pled guilty to conspiracy and felony copyright infringement, while his brother Thomas Robberson pled guilty to a single count of felony copyright infringement.

Thomas Robberson grossed more than $150,000 selling software with a retail value of nearly $1 million by operating the websites http://www.Bestvalueshoppe.com and http://www.TheDealDepot.net. Maurice Robberson grossed more than $855,000 selling software with a retail value of nearly $5.6 million through his operation of the websites http://www.CDsalesUSA.com and http://www.AmericanSoftwareSales.com. Both the Robbersons have agreed to forfeit all their proceeds from these illegal businesses.

Two other individuals who conspired with Maurice Robberson to commit copyright infringement have previously been sentenced. Danny Ferrer, 39, was sentenced to 72 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III on Aug. 25, 2006, for selling more than $4 million in pirated software with a retail value of nearly $20 million on the website http://www.BUYSUSA.com. Alton Lee Grooms, 56, who helped initiate some of the illegal businesses and profited more than $150,000 from them, was sentenced on Jan. 18, 2008, by Judge Hilton to one year and one day in prison, after he cooperated with the government's investigation.