Oldbury factory worker jailed for 21 months for piracy

A glass factory worker been jailed for 21 months after making more than £200,000 through counterfeit films, CDs, computer games and pornography produced in a streamlined workshop at his home in Oldbury, UK.

Simon Evans, 43, created a highly sophisticated and profitable operation, in which over 1,000 customers would access a secure website to order the pirated merchandise. He allegedly spent his earnings on foreign holidays, a house extension and an extravagant family wedding.

Attention was brought to Evans’ activities when FACT (The Federation Against Copyright Theft) received intelligence which led to an investigation involving the West Midlands Police. Following surveillance, Evans was caught posting large packages of pirated films.

FACT’s Director General, Kieron Sharp, explained: “This was a sophisticated operation run with the sole intent of making money from counterfeiting. FACT continues to target such criminal activity that threatens the livelihoods of over a million people in the UK’s creative industries and harms legitimate businesses and the UK economy.”

Evans pleaded guilty to 37 charges of counterfeiting and 6 charges of money laundering. His wife Trudy pleaded guilty to five charges of money laundering and has been sentenced to a 36 week suspend prison sentence and 100 hours community service.