Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 01/20/05

Contact person(s):

Media Coordinator, Donna Edwards - 565-3099 Media Spokesperson, Chief Deputy Larry Scoufos Deputy District Attorney: Mary K. Maxeiner

Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California

GUILTY PLEA IN HIGH TECH CRIME

Sonoma County District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua announced today that Daniel Gary Woolsey, a Petaluma resident who sold software online, entered a guilty plea for software piracy. Woolsey was charged with five felony counts of selling pirated copies of software in violation of Penal Code section 350. Four of the counts involve pirated copies of Marin county software giant Auto Desk’s AutoCad program, a high end drafting program. The fifth count involves a pirated copy of south bay software company Adobe Systems’ PhotoShop.

The investigation into this matter was conducted by the Northern California Computer Crime Task Force (NC3TF). Woolsey was scheduled to have a preliminary hearing today but pled no contest to one felony count of violation of Penal Code section 350. He has agreed that Superior Court Judge Raima Ballinger may consider the additional counts when imposing his sentence on February 23, 2005. A violation of Penal Code section 350 carries a maximum sentence of three years in the state prison and/or a $250,000.00 fine. The People agreed that he would not be immediately committed to state prison, however, he could be sentenced for up to one year in the county jail.

“The Sonoma County District Attorney is committed to the vigorous prosecution of all types of online fraud, including fraud involving pirated software,” stated District Attorney Passalacqua. “We hope this case will serve as a warning to others engaged in similar activities that they may also be arrested and prosecuted.”

Deputy District Attorney Mary K. Maxeiner was the assigned prosecutor for this case.