After years of evading extradition in the Netherlands, Mega programmer Andrus Nömm was apprehended in Virginia where he pleaded guilty to charges of felony copyright infringement. He was given one year and one day jail term for the conspiracy act involving felony copyright infringement.
Nömm was arrested in the Netherlands in 2012. According to the Department of Justice, he admitted that he was aware of the copyrighted material being stored on the servers of Megaupload. This would include files that have the anti-piracy warning from the FBI.
"Nömm also admitted that he personally downloaded copyright-infringing files from the Mega websites," a statement has said. "Despite his knowledge in this regard, Nömm continued to participate in the Mega Conspiracy."
Nömm is one of the six Megaupload defendants who have pending criminal charges from the U.S. All of the defendants, headed by founder Kim Dotcom, have been battling extradition and evading the government's case from outside the U.S.
"Today one conspirator who infringed upon the work of countless artists, actors and musicians takes responsibility for his actions," said Assistant Director in Charge Andrew G. McCabe of the FBI's Washington Field Office. "We continue to pursue his co-conspirators until they face justice in the American legal system. This sentence and the remaining charges in this case are the direct result of the hard work of dedicated FBI Special Agents, intelligence analysts and prosecutors who have invested countless hours of effort to bring justice in this case."
Ira Rothken, chief global counsel of Dotcom, said that the Department of Justice took advantage of Nömm's poor financial condition and concocted a "Hollywood inspired publicity venture" to make Nömm plead guilty. Dotcom stressed that Nömm was innocent.
"The U.S. Justice system: An innocent coder pleads guilty after 3 years of DOJ abuse, with no end in sight, in order to move on with his life," tweeted Kim Dotcom.
"'I would sign anything to get out of this mess,' - Andrus Nömm. Source: A witness for the defense," said Kim Dotcom in another tweet.
Nömm agreed in court papers that the damage caused by Megaupload's criminal conduct to copyright owners had gone beyond $400 million. He also stated that the group earned at least $175 million in proceeds from exercising their illegal act.
Megaupload.com had also claimed before that it makes up four percent of the total traffic in the Internet with over one billion total visits. It also has a record of 150 million registered site users and 50 million visitors every day.
Co-defendants Kim Dotcom, Finn Batato, Bram Van der Kolk, and Mathias Ortmann are scheduled for an extradition hearing on June 2015 in Auckland, New Zealand. Other co-defendants such as Sven Echternach and Julius Bencko remain at large.
