Operation Fastlink

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Operation FastLink is a coordination of four separate, simultaneous undercover investigations by the FBI, the FBI Cyber Division, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) of the Criminal Division and Interpol. The four different investigations have not been publicly enumerated, but the U.S. Department of Justice has said in at least one press release that "Operation Higher Education" is the largest component, with participation from twelve nations. Mention has also been made of an investigation into pre-release music groups led by FBI agents from the Washington Field Office. As of February 26, 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice states that Operation FastLink is "ongoing" and has yielded felony convictions of 27 individuals. The raids occurred in similar fashion to those from Operation Buccaneer and Operation Site Down. Other somewhat-related law enforcement actions include Operation Gridlock and Operation D-Elite.

The operation led to the successful busts of nearly 100 individuals involved in illegal copying of copyrighted software (i.e "software piracy"), and alterations thereof, worldwide. There were around 120 total searches executed in 27 states and in 10 foreign countries. Foreign searches were conducted in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden as well as Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Among the prolific warez release groups targeted by Fastlink were Fairlight, Kalisto, Echelon, Class,and DEViANCE - all of which specialized in pirating computer and console video games. Recent convictions have included members of music release groups Apocalypse Production Crew and Chromance.

[edit] Cases

Jathan Desir (a.k.a. jd333), 26, (a University of Iowa student) of Iowa City, Iowa, pleaded guilty on December 22, 2004 to charges related to his role and faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison when he is sentenced on September 30, 2005. This was the first conviction stemming from Operation Fastlink. Sentencing was originally scheduled for March 18, 2005, but the defendant filed an unopposed motion to continue sentencing until June. The judge then later postponed the sentencing further due to "a change in the court's schedule". On July 26, 2005, the judge ordered all the computer-related material seized in the original raid to be forfeited, as agreed to by Desir in his plea bargain. The case is 4:04-cr-00336 from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.

Joshua Abell (a.k.a. "joebob"), 24, of San Antonio, Texas, pleaded guilty on February 28, 2005. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Sentencing was originally scheduled for May 26, 2005, but has been delayed twice to December 15, 2005. The case is 5:04-cr-00681 from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Seth Kleinberg (a.k.a. "basilisk"), 26, of Pasadena, California, pleaded guilty on March 8, 2005 and faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Sentencing was originally scheduled for July 1, 2005, but has been delayed to January 6, 2006. He admitted to being a supplier for Fairlight and Kalisto. The case is 3:05-cr-00049 from the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.

Jeffrey Lerman (a.k.a. "ht"), 20, a University of Maryland, College Park student from Long Island, New York, pleaded guilty on March 8, 2005 and faces a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison. Lerman repackaged and restructured Playstation 2 games, originally distributed on DVDs, for redistribution on CDs for Kalisto. Sentencing was originally scheduled for July 1, 2005, but has been delayed to January 6, 2006. The case is 3:05-cr-00050 from the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.

Albert Bryndza, 32, of Flushing, New York, pleaded guilty on March 8, 2005 and faces a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison. Sentencing was originally scheduled for July 1, 2005, but has been delayed to January 13, 2006. The case is 3:05-cr-00051 from the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.

Weiss pleaded guilty on September 12, 2005 to criminal copyright infringement. Sentenced on January 12, 2006 to three years probation, pay $20,914 in restitution, and complete 500 hours of community service. Unknown case from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Ringe was indicted for criminal copyright infringement on September 13, 2005. Unknown case from the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

Christopher M. Streit was originally indicted on a criminal copyright infringement charge in the Southern District of Iowa. On March 10, 2005, his case was transferred to the Eastern District of North Carolina. He pleaded guilty on April 11, 2005 and was sentenced to five years probation, 180 days of home confinement, and imposed a 500 dollar fine on September 6, 2005. The case is 5:05-cr-00066 from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Joseph J. Huss, Jr., pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy and criminal copyright infringement on July 28, 2005. He was sentenced to five years probation, a $200 special assessment, and a $5,000 fine for each of the counts on November 10, 2005. The case is 2:05-cr-00002 from U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Timothy Mentzer's three criminal copyright infringement charges were transferred from the Southern District of Iowa. He pleaded guilty on August 3, 2005. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 19, 2006. The case is 2:05-cr-00002 from U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

I-Che Lai (a.k.a. "doplgnger"), 25, of Las Vegas, Nevada, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement on January 6, 2006 related to his administering several warez FTP sites. Sentencing was originally scheduled for March 17, 2006, but has been delayed until August 8, 2006. The case is 3:06-cr-00004 from the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.

George Scott Hayes, 31, of Danville, Virginia, pleaded guilty on February 13, 2006 to one count of criminal copyright infringement related to his involvement in music release group "Chromance." Sentencing is scheduled for May 19, 2006. The case is 1:06-cr-00032 from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Derek A. Borchardt, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, Ramesh Yarlagadda, 18, of Charlotte, North Carolina, Matthew B. Howard, 24, of Longmont, Colorado, and Aaron O. Jones, 31, of Hillsboro, Oregon each pleaded guilty on February 28, 2006 to one count of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement for their involvement in the music release group "Apocalypse Crew". Sentencing is scheduled for May 19, 2006. The case is 1:06-cr-00041 from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Varying degrees of information for all cases can be obtained (for a nominal fee) via the various courts' electronic document retrieval systems with a PACER account.