Ibrahim Diallo, Counterfeit DVD and CD Trafficking, Georgia 2009

A 27-year-old Atlanta man was sentenced to 38 months in prison for his involvement in a counterfeit DVD and CD ring.

Ibrahim Diallo was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William S. Duffey Jr. on [no date given] for his role in the counterfeit DVD and CD operation. He was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay $3,867 in restitution, jointly and severally with his co-defendants.

Diallo pleaded guilty on September 1, 2009, to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, to traffic in counterfeit goods, and to traffic in counterfeit labels. At the plea hearing, he admitted to selling pirated CDs and DVDs, as well as counterfeit labels and packaging. He admitted to selling and conspiring to sell thousands of pirated CDs and DVDs per week.

This case is an example of the efforts being undertaken by the Attorney General's Task Force on Intellectual Property to combat the growing number of domestic and international intellectual property crimes. The task force was created to protect the health and safety of American consumers and safeguard the nation's economic security against those who seek to profit illegally from American creativity, innovation, and hard work.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Pearce and Senior Counsel John H. Zacharia of the Criminal Division's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section. The case was investigated by special agents of the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, together with officers of the Atlanta Police Department Organized Crime Unit; the College Park, Ga., Police Department; and the East Point, Ga., Police Department.

Diallo was one of 13 individuals charged in a May 19, 2009, indictment alleging various copyright, trademark, and counterfeit goods offenses.

The victims in this case are the thousands of Americans who earn their livelihoods from the legitimate creation and performance of popular music and movies. This group of defendants stole from them by mass-producing counterfeit music CDs and DVD movies in a pirating operation that may have been the largest of its kind in the Southeastern United States.

Other defendants in the case have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from 24 to 60 months. Mamadou Sadio Barry, 40, was sentenced to 60 months in prison; Moussa Baradji, 29, was sentenced to 50 months in prison; Sedikey Sankano, 42, was sentenced to 24 months in prison; and Won Ahn, 69, was placed on probation for one year. Barry, Baradji, and Sankano were also ordered to serve three years of supervised release following their prison terms. Barry and Baradji were ordered to pay $70,894 in restitution and Sankano was ordered to pay $3,867 in restitution.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/fifth-member-cd-and-dvd-counterfeiting-ring-atlanta-sentenced-38-months-prison