SEATTLE — An Everett man was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison Friday for operating websites that helped people steal television shows from Korean broadcasters.
Sang Jin Kim, 37, was a “one-man wrecking ball” for the businesses he harmed, U.S. District Judge Richard Jones said at sentencing.
Kim in July pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal copyright infringement. As part of his sentence, he was ordered to surrender more than $409,000 as proceeds of crime.
Kim’s websites were used to distribute stolen copies of movies, televisions shows, video games and software, and were marketed to people in the Korean community in the U.S., according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Kim “engaged in copyright infringement on a massive scale,” U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan said in a prepared statement.
Federal officials got a tip about Kim from somebody in Seoul, Korea, that Kim’s Lynnwood-based company was illegally distributing copyrighted material.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.