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Man sentenced to 7 years for movie piracy
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - A man convicted of sneaking camcorders into movie screenings and selling the pirated tapes in video stores was sentenced Friday to seven years in federal prison.
Johnny Ray Gasca was the first person charged in a federal crackdown on video piracy.
Prosecutors showed the jury Gasca’s diary in which he wrote that he earned up to $4,000 a week by attending the screenings. Prosecutors alleged he sold the films through small video stores or on the street.
Gasca represented himself during a weeklong trial, saying he did not intend to profit from his actions. He said evidence was embellished to make him appear to be a “prince of piracy.”
Gasca was arrested in Burbank and charged with misdemeanor burglary after sneaking a camcorder into a screening of “The Core” in September 2002.
The next month, security officers at a Los Angeles theater found him with a camcorder at a screening of the Eminem movie “8 Mile.”
And in January 2003, a theater camera meant to record audience reaction at an “Anger Management” screening caught Gasca in the front row with his camcorder trained on the screen.
He was convicted in June 2005 of three counts of copyright infringement. Gasca was also convicted of an escape charge for fleeing his attorney’s custody while awaiting trial and of using a fake Social Security number.
