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A leading member of a group selling pirated video games that cost Nintendo and other companies more than $65 million, and a hacker, was sentenced to 40 months in federal court in Washington State on Thursday, prosecutors said.
In October, 52-year-old hacker Gary Bowser pleaded guilty to two charges for his role in Team Xecuter, which sells illegal devices that allow people to play pirated video games on consoles like the Nintendo Switch, Sony PlayStation Classic and Microsoft. Xbox, the US attorney’s office for the Western District of Washington, said in a statement. Declaration Thursday.
As part of a plea arrangement, Canadian Mr. Bowser, who was living in the Dominican Republic at the time of his arrest in September 2020, agreed to pay Nintendo of America $4.5 million in damages.
“The harm goes beyond these businesses, hurting video game developers and small, creative studios whose products and hard work have been essentially stolen,” US attorney Nick Brown said in a statement.
Under the terms of his settlement with prosecutors, Mr Bowser was found guilty of conspiring to circumvent technological measures and engaging in the trade of circumvention devices and circumvention devices. Several other charges against him were dropped.
Prosecutors have described Mr Bowser as the “leading leader” of Team Xecuter, a video game piracy group that they say includes online libraries of pirated video games. The group, which has more than a dozen members worldwide, has also sold “jump devices” that allow users to hack consoles like the Nintendo Switch, a popular handheld device from which to download games like Super Mario Odyssey and Super Smash Bros. .
Prosecutors said Mr Bowser ran the group’s websites and answered customer questions.
“Mr. In a statement from the US attorney’s office, Donald M. Voiret, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Seattle field office, said Bowser was responsible for stealing millions of dollars in profits. The Bureau and the Department of Homeland Security were involved in the case.
In Declaration Nintendo on Thursday thanked federal officials for their efforts to “block illegal activities on a global scale that seriously harm Nintendo and the video game industry.”
One of Mr Bowser’s lawyers, Michael Filipovic, did not immediately return calls or emails asking for comment on Thursday.
Prosecutors said Mr Bowser was deported from the Dominican Republic after being arrested in September 2020. He was charged, along with two others: Max Louarn, 49, from France; and 36-year-old Chinese Yuanning Chen. Emily Langlie, spokesperson for the US law firm, said on Thursday that they have not yet been extradited to the US to face charges.
In a memorandum of conviction presented last week for Mr Bowser, his lawyers wrote that he was “facing the weight” of government prosecution. According to his lawyers, he never met his co-defendants face-to-face and “made the smallest profit” from the venture.
“His generosity is something others benefit from,” his lawyers wrote. “In this case Louarn used Mr Bowser as the public face of the venture.”
Owned by video game hackers become an increasing threat To gaming companies in recent years, as attackers steal code and cut companies’ profits. In June, hackers claimed they stole the source code For the popular football game FIFA, made by the video game company Electronic Arts.
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