Philadelphia Youtuber, Bill Omar Carrasquillo, popularly known as Omi in a Hellcat, has reportedly been sentenced to five and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to charges including and not limited to cable piracy.
His case is said to be one of the most successful piracy-related crimes to be prosecuted by federal officials.
Omi had amassed a huge fan following on the Internet, thanks to his lavish lifestyle and jaw-dropping collection of luxury vehicles.
The indictment claims the YouTuber is ordered by the court to forfeit more than $30 million in assets. He stated that he “didn’t know the significance of his crime” until his arrest.
What is cable piracy?
Cable piracy is an illegal act of accessing the reception or service from cable operators without their permission. It is treated as a copyright infringement and a federal crime.
Both state and federal laws ban unauthorized access to cable reception.
The illegal practice was comparatively rampant in the olden days before the advent of digital streaming. Stealing cable reception from another user is as easy as attaching a cable from the television to the cable distribution box, which was rarely secured back in the day.
In the modern age, cable theft is also possible through the pirate description (which involves decoding the cable signal illegally), although most cable operators have switched to digital-only services.
What did Omi in a Hellcat do?
Omi in a Hellcat was indicted in September 2021 for running a multi-million dollar business with two other defendants, who along with him hacked encrypted cable signals, streamed, and re-sold the unauthorized content to their own subscribers for as low as $15 per month.
The Inquirer reports, the company went by different names including Gears TV and Gears Reloaded and had multiple accounts with cable companies like Comcast, and Verizon FiOS, through which they stole the encrypted reception for on-demand movies and TV shows.
The company reportedly made more than $34 million in profits before being shut down by authorities in 2019. The illegal venture attracted more than 100,000 subscribers.
YouTube channel has more than 800k subscribers
Omi is popular on YouTube for sharing videos that put his millionaire life on display, often headlined by the fanciest of cars. You can also find vlogs about his personal life, with his channel boasting more than 800,000 subscribers.
The YouTuber has shared in many of his videos that he had a tough childhood, having been raised in North Philadelphia by a father who introduced him to drugs. He claimed his mother died of an overdose.
He also juggled between different foster homes while his father was in jail.
After his sentencing on Tuesday, Omi apologized to his family, employees, and the companies his business hurt.
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