An adult male suspected of video game piracy was arrested on Saturday for selling illegally modified video game consoles with thousands of unauthorized copied video games loaded into the video game console's internal hard drive. The arrest occurred at the Starlite Swap Meet in South El Monte, California

The arrest of the suspected video game pirate came after an investigation conducted by Rosario Investigations, Inc. on behalf of The Entertainment Software Association of America (ESA). An undercover operative of Rosario Investigations, Inc. had made a purchase from the subject and determined that the subject was in fact selling Xbox video game consoles loaded with over 2,000 video games produced by member companies belonging to the ESA.

The investigation was turned over to Detective Prentice of the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department, Temple City Station. Detective Prentice assigned deputy sheriffs to respond to the Starlite Swap Meet. The deputies confirmed that the subject  was selling modified Xbox video game consoles that were loaded with thousands of video games.

During the arrest, the suspect made a spontaneous statement. He said that he was recently arrested for receiving stolen property. This statement has not yet been confirmed through official channels. It was later confirmed that the subject owns a wireless telephone service store in Paramount, California where he also sells video games.

The Starlite Swap Meet management stated that the subject will be ejected from the swap meet after today's arrest. The subject will no longer be welcome to return to sell any merchandise at the location.

The subject was arrested and transported to the Temple City Sheriff Station for booking. The subject was charged with California Penal Code 350(a), Unauthorized use of a registered trademark. The arrest charge is a felony and if convicted, the subject will face up to five years in state prison.

A preliminary review of the evidence shows that there were over 30 video game consoles seized and the combined total of video games contained in the video game consoles are estimated to be over 25,000.

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Contact:

Tony Rosario

tony@rosarioinvestigations.com

(800) 203-7192