On August 11, 2017, Oscar Rojelio Torres, age 26, and his father, Oscar Rojelio Cota Torres, age 53, were sentenced for trafficking pirated movies.
On February 15, 2016, Oro Valley Police Department officers stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation. The driver, Oscar Rojelio Torres, had multiple warrants and a suspended driver’s license. The vehicle was impounded and an inventory search of the car revealed over 700 illegally downloaded movies.
Oro Valley Police Department (OVPD) detectives worked with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and served a search warrant at the home of Torres, Jr. OVPD detectives and HSI special agents discovered laptops and computers with disk burning drives, over 500 DVDs and ledgers of movies sold. The investigation also revealed that the father and son conspired in the production and sale of the illegally downloaded movies.
Torres Sr. and Torres Jr. were indicted for trafficking stolen property, conspiracy, illegally conducting an enterprise, unlawful copying or sale of sounds or images from recording devices and counterfeit marks. All charges are felonies. Torres, Jr. and Torres, Sr. pled guilty, received probation and have to pay restitution.
“Counterfeiting branded merchandise is not a victimless crime,” said Scott Brown, special agent in charge of HSI Phoenix. “Counterfeiters produce inferior products; they steal American jobs; and they support criminal organizations. Law enforcement and public education are critical to successfully address this crime.”