Former Maine video store owner convicted for pirating thousands of movies
The former owner of a chain of video rental stores in central and eastern Maine faces up to 20 years in prison for making and selling over 48,000 illegally copied movie DVDs.
A federal jury in Bangor on Tuesday convicted Mattawamkeag resident Douglas Gordon, 52, of mail fraud and copyright infringement after prosecutors said he reproduced the movies and sold the counterfeits for more than $640,000, according to a news release.
Gordon’s video stores weren’t named in the release from U.S. Attorney Halsey B. Frank. But several public reports identify them as Edge Video, which is now closed.
Gordon operated three websites from which he sold the illegal movies, and from which federal investigators made undercover purchases.
In the seven-day trial, buyers testified the websites led them to expect they’d receive authorized DVD movies with cases and cover art. Instead they received paper envelopes, each containing only a burned disc with a laser-etched movie title.
The trial also includes testimony from several of Gordon’s former video store employees, as well as representatives of MGM, CBS, Disney, Mercury Pictures and other companies owning the movie copyrights.
In addition to the maximum sentence of 20 years for the mail fraud offense, Gordon could serve an additional three years for each of two copyright infringement convictions. He also faces a potential $250,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release.
A sentencing date for Gordon has not been scheduled.
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