Grandview Man Sentenced for Trafficking in Counterfeit DVDs
Pays $24,000 to Motion Picture Association after Secretly Videotaping ‘Dark Knight’ in Lee’s Summit Theater

KANSAS CITY, MO—Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Grandview, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally trafficking in counterfeit DVDs.

Robert L. Henderson, 42, of Grandview, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan this morning to two years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Henderson to pay $24,738 in restitution to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and to forfeit to the government a digital video camcorder, two laptop computers, four desktop computers, the counterfeit DVDs, and numerous blank DVDs and empty DVD cases.

On Oct. 7, 2009, Henderson pleaded guilty to criminal copyright infringement. Henderson admitted that he used a video camera to record “The Dark Knight” on July 18, 2008, at East Glenn Movie Theater in Lee’s Summit, Mo.

Henderson was apprehended as part of an investigation by the MPAA. MPAA investigators discovered a digital copy of the movie “Hancock” that was made available for people to download from the Internet. The Internet video was identified as having been recorded in the East Glenn theater. MPAA investigators were sent to the Lee’s Summit theater to investigate and do surveillance during the weekend of the release of “The Dark Knight.” Henderson was seen entering the movie theater carrying a winter coat, which seemed suspicious in July, then appeared to be operating a video camera hidden underneath the coat during the movie. Investigators confronted Henderson, seized his video camera and called the police. Henderson’s camera also contained a recording of “Hell Boy 2” and a partial recording of “The Chronicles of Narnia – Prince Caspian.”

While executing a search warrant of Henderson’s residence and car, police detectives discovered numerous counterfeit DVDs and several computers. A total of 1,240 counterfeit DVDs were recovered from Henderson.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew P. Wolesky. It was investigated by the Lee’s Summit, Mo., Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc.