MPA-Aided Undercover Sting Yields Guilty Plea for Counterfeit DVDs

A Bowie, Maryland, man pleaded guilty Friday to copyright infringement for online sales of nearly $316,000 worth of counterfeit DVDs and Blu-rays of popular movies, TV shows and fitness videos, said DOJ. Authorities charged Olayinka Wahab, 45, with selling more than 18,000 Chinese-sourced discs or boxed sets online for nine years beginning in 2009. He was caught in an undercover sting when MPA representatives tipped off federal agents after buying sample counterfeit discs from Wahab and finding their packaging and labeling “were substantially indistinguishable” from the legitimate product, said DOJ. His plea deal requires him to pay restitution, plus forfeit more than $20,000 seized from several bank accounts. He faces up to five years in federal prison. Sentencing is scheduled for May 18 before U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Greenbelt, Maryland. Efforts to reach Wahab’s attorneys for comment were unsuccessful. MPA is "grateful that justice has been served in a case that once again highlights the need to protect the creative community from those who seek to profit illegally from their hard work," said a spokesperson Monday. Copyright infringement costs up to $71 billion annually in lost domestic revenue, he said, citing a U.S. Chamber of Commerce study.