Accused Delaware bootlegger charged with counterfeiting CDs, DVDs
A Delaware man faces charges he “bootlegged” nearly 1,400 CDs and DVDs, including several movies which have not yet been released for home viewing and are still playing in theatres.
New Castle County Police say they discovered discs with titles such as The Grey, Redtails and Girl with the Dragon Tattoo when they carried out the recent arrest at a home on Becker Avenue in the Woodcrest community near Wilmington.
Investigators obtained information that 51-year-old Eric Tillman, who was on probation, was not living at the address he listed but instead was residing at the home of his girlfriend. Members of the Safe Streets Task Force and an FBI Task Force visited the home Friday with a search warrant. They found a counterfeiting operation that was used to make copies of discs, and later seized laptop computers, printers, blank discs and 1,384 illegally-made discs.
Tillman is charged with trademark counterfeiting with two or more previous convictions, improper labeling of DVDs and CDs, and transfer of recorded sounds with intent to sell or use for profit. Tillman is being held at the Howard Young Prison in Wilmington after failing to post $6,000 cash bail.
The Motion Picture Association of America estimates the value of the counterfeited materials at a minimum of $13,840.
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