'Omi in a Hellcat' learns fate in TV piracy case. What's next for South Jersey man?
PHILADELPHIA – A YouTube celebrity from South Jersey has been ordered to forfeit more than $30 million and to pay more than $15 million in restitution for his role in a scheme to steal programming from cable TV providers.
Bill Omar Carrasquillo, 36, of Woolwich also received a five-and-a-half-year prison term for the copyright-infringement scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia.
Carrasquillo and accomplices pirated copyrighted content from Comcast Corp., Verizon Fios and other cable television suppliers, then resold it for viewing by their own subscribers from March 2016 until November 2019, the federal prosecutor’s office alleged in a statement.
Who is Omi in a Hellcat?
In a court filing, Carrasquillo’s attorney described his client as a high school dropout who had grown up in an environment of poverty and abuse in Philadelphia.
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The filing said Carrasquillo sought a "safe haven" at YouTube, where he attracted more than 800,000 subscribers for his channel, Omi in a Hellcat.
It asserted Carrasquillo, with one million followers on Instagram, generated "significant legal compensation" from the YouTube channel, a construction company and other projects.
Carrasquillo initially developed a lawful business selling set-top boxes that came programmed with old TV series, the attorney, Donte Mills of New York City, said in the sentencing memorandum.
Carrasquillo at first obtained the set-top boxes from an online retailer, then moved into making his own products, the memorandum says.
'He crossed the line'
“It was legal until he crossed the line into having some recordings on his platform,” according to Mills. “Omar knows he went too far with his product in his effort to stay competitive and he broke the law.”
“Once he added copyrighted works, it became felony criminal activity,” the attorney acknowledged.
The scheme, which operated as Gears TV, used equipment obtained from China to thwart encryption measures that prevent the copying of shows provided by cable TV suppliers, according to the federal prosecutor's office.
Carrasquillo admitted guilt under a plea agreement to crimes that included conspiracy, reproduction of a protected work, money laundering and tax evasion.
The pirated programming was provided to tens of thousands of subscribers in this country and abroad, according to U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero.
The scheme supported a lavish lifestyle for Carrasquillo, who bought homes and dozens of vehicles, including high-end sports cars, according to a 69-page indictment in September 2021.
As part of his sentence, Carrasquillo was ordered to pay $10.7 million to victimized cable companies and more than $5 million to the IRS.
A forfeiture order demands "all property" obtained from proceeds of the piracy scheme.
That includes $5.2 million seized from a bank account, $20,000 recovered from a 2020 Bentley Continental and $80,000 from a 2018 Mercedes Benz AMG.
Luxury cars, motorcycles to be forfeited
The order also identifies more than 50 vehicles. including about 20 motorcycles.
It also demands forfeiture of more than 20 properties, including Carrasquillo's 5,100-square-foot home on 2.5 acres on Fox Chase Court in Woolwich and .a house on Fern Road in Millville,.
Carrasquillo was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III in Philadelphia federal court.
An anti-piracy coalition, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, applauded Carrasquillo's prosecution.
"There is no justification for the illegal streaming of content, and the sentencing of these felons confirms yet again that violators will face serious consequences," said Jan van Voorn, head of the Los Angeles-based coalition.
He described the streaming operation as "one of the largest piracy operations of its kind ever prosecuted by (federal authorities)."
Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times, and The Daily Journal.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Bill Omar Carrasquillo sentenced for role in cable TV piracy scheme
