Members of an illegal streaming group, which made upwards of £7 million by offering cheap subscriptions to watch Premier League matches, have been sentenced to a total of more than 30 years in prison. The illegal services – Flawless, Shared VPS and Optimal – also offered access to hundreds of channels from around the world and tens of thousands of films and TV series. Four of the five men involved pleaded guilty to their respective charges. Mark Gould, the supposed ring-leader of the operation, received an 11 year sentence after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and contempt of court. Steven Gordon received five years and nine months for two counts of conspiracy to defraud. Peter Jolley was sentenced to five years and two months for two counts of conspiracy to defraud and one count of money laundering after concealing £500,000 in his parents’ bank account. Christopher Felvus pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to defraud and received a sentence of three years and 11 months. The fifth member of the group, William Brown, pleaded not guilty to all charges. He claimed to have been an undercover informant acting for law enforcement within the streaming gang, however this was found to be untrue and Brown was ultimately sentenced to four years and nine months in prison. Legal representative for the Premier League, Kevin Plumb, said of the verdict, “The sentences handed down, which are the longest sentences ever issued for piracy-related crimes, vindicate the efforts made to bring these individuals to justice and reflect the severity and extent of the crimes”. If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com. Posted by: Megan Walker in: Copyright, Digital/Tech, Regulatory
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