Large scale CD piracy operation suspected in Rio Rancho
Posted at: 12/27/2012 9:59 PM
| Updated at: 12/27/2012 10:14 PM
By: Joe Vigil, KOB Eyewitness News 4
Donald Wands tells KOB Eyewitness News 4 he started bootlegging music back in the 70's, in the form of cassettes.
"Being truthful, I was the bootleg man for a long time," Wands told KOB Eyewitness News 4 at his Rio Rancho home Thursday night.
Rio Rancho Police arrested Wands on Dec. 19, in what they call a large scale CD piracy operation.
Police suspect Wands copied CDs and then sold the music at area flea markets.
According to a criminal complaint Wands sold undercover investigators 4,000 bootleg CDs for $1,300.
Police say investigators recovered more than 20,000 pirated CDs and and duplication equipment from Wands.
Police say the Recording Industry Association of America was conducting a private investigation on Wands prior to Rio Rancho officers getting involved in the case.
Police say Wands was sent a notice to cease and desist selling CDs, but say he kept selling them.
Wands told KOB 4 he stopped bootlegging in April when he says he was told it was illegal. He says he didn't know.
Wands also told KOB 4 the CDs being sold were from his legally purchased collection from when he was a disc jockey.
Wands faces a number of charges in the case.
 |
Tweet |
|
