Final Defendant Pleads Guilty in Connection with Extensive Counterfeit Media Conspiracy in Central Valley

FRESNO, Calif. — Miguel Angel Gomez Rebolledo, 35, of San Jose, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill to conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement and related crimes, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

Gomez Rebolledo was the last defendant to plead guilty in connection with an extensive counterfeit media scheme involving a San Jose-based warehouse and counterfeit media distribution and resale activity throughout the Central Valley of California.

According to court documents, on March 13, 2015, warehouse and office space used by the defendants was found to contain more than 120,000 counterfeit music CDs and movie DVDs. The counterfeit materials included movie titles that were in theatrical release and not yet available for legitimate sale on DVD. The counterfeit CDs and DVDs were distributed by the defendants for resale in Atwater, Modesto, Stockton, Turlock, and throughout California. Gomez Rebolledo pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme, which involved manufacturing counterfeit motion picture DVDs for distribution and resale at the office space used by Gomez Rebelledo and his co-conspirators.

The status of the remaining co-defendants in the case is as follows:

• On December 7, 2015, co-defendants Efrain Lozada Rosas, and Victor Flores Fuentes, of San Jose, and Jesus Cuevas Lopez, of Southern California, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement and related crimes. They will be sentenced on April 11, 2016.

• On December 14, 2015, co-defendant Antonio Morales, of San Jose, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement and related crimes. He will be sentenced on March 28, 2016.

• On December 7, 2015, co-defendant Edgar Hipatl Rodriguez, of San Jose, was sentenced by Judge O’Neill to 27 months in prison for conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement and related crimes.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Sacramento Intellectual Property Rights Task Force composed of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry Z. Carbajal III is prosecuting the case.

The defendants pending sentencing face a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentences, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.