Internet pirate sentenced to jail

An Internet movie pirate has been sentenced to a US federal prison for five years.

A judge in Norfolk, Virginia sentenced Jeramiah B. Perkins, 40, of Portsmouth, Virginia to jail after he pleaded guilty in August to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement.

Three other defendants were indicted for the same crime in April.

Perkins had been accused of being the lead person in directing activities in which movies only showing in theatres were recorded and made available for purchase on the Internet.

The Motion Picture Association of America was invited to give evidence that Perkins had been at the forefront of the most prolific movie piracy group operating on the Internet.

It was alleged Perkins and others had been distributing the copyright material from September 2009 through September 2011.

Perkins was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release following the completion of his jail sentence. A $15,000 fine was also levied.