Guilty plea in ‘Sex’ piracy
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A Sherman Oaks man has pleaded guilty to one felony count of criminal copyright infringement for selling pirated copies of the HBO series “Sex and the City” on the Internet.
William Jefferson Philputt, 33, could face up to three years in prison when he is sentenced in federal court in Los Angeles on July 2, prosecutors said.
An FBI raid on Philputt’s apartment earlier this year turned up illegally duplicated copies of films such as this year’s Academy Award-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” “Kill Bill Vol. 1” and George Lucas’ “Star Wars” trilogy.
Prosecutors say Philputt illegally obtained copies of “Sex and the City” from DirecTV satellite feeds and then posted for sale the DVDs he manufactured on the EBay auction website.
-- Robert W. Welkos
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