Justin
June 7th, 2001, 11:49 AM
http://www.skyreport.com/skyreport/june2001/060701.htm#two
Pegasus Helps with Record Bust
On Wednesday, Pegasus Communications announced a series of seizures of modified access cards and other illegal satellite TV reception equipment, a bust which the company said has a multimillion dollar street value.
The seizures resulted from Pegasus' involvement in a year-long investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Texas. Raids in Austin, Corpus Christi and Round Rock, Texas, last week produced the seizures, Pegasus said. The FBI executed federal search warrants at several locations in each city, leading to the confiscation of thousands of illegal devices.
"We believe this to be the largest seizure of illegal satellite modification devices to date in the United States," said Howard Verlin, executive vice president of sales, distribution and marketing for Pegasus, which sells DirecTV through the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative. "Theft of satellite video service and equipment is a serious crime that negatively affects not only programming providers like Pegasus, but also millions of lawful satellite customers who pay for their service each month."
Verlin added that Pegasus remains committed to combating the industry-wide issue of signal theft. "Pegasus will continue to vigilantly pursue satellite video thieves and work closely with both federal and state law enforcement agencies to apprehend these offenders," he said.
The U.S. Attorney will present the cases to a federal grand jury for possible indictments. The FBI said there may be as many as 10 people indicted as a result of the investigation, which is ongoing and is expected to result in additional raids and subsequent seizures.
Pegasus Helps with Record Bust
On Wednesday, Pegasus Communications announced a series of seizures of modified access cards and other illegal satellite TV reception equipment, a bust which the company said has a multimillion dollar street value.
The seizures resulted from Pegasus' involvement in a year-long investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Texas. Raids in Austin, Corpus Christi and Round Rock, Texas, last week produced the seizures, Pegasus said. The FBI executed federal search warrants at several locations in each city, leading to the confiscation of thousands of illegal devices.
"We believe this to be the largest seizure of illegal satellite modification devices to date in the United States," said Howard Verlin, executive vice president of sales, distribution and marketing for Pegasus, which sells DirecTV through the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative. "Theft of satellite video service and equipment is a serious crime that negatively affects not only programming providers like Pegasus, but also millions of lawful satellite customers who pay for their service each month."
Verlin added that Pegasus remains committed to combating the industry-wide issue of signal theft. "Pegasus will continue to vigilantly pursue satellite video thieves and work closely with both federal and state law enforcement agencies to apprehend these offenders," he said.
The U.S. Attorney will present the cases to a federal grand jury for possible indictments. The FBI said there may be as many as 10 people indicted as a result of the investigation, which is ongoing and is expected to result in additional raids and subsequent seizures.