A man responsible for the illegal streaming of Premier League games in more than 1,000 pubs, bars and homes in England and Wales must pay nearly £1 million or his prison sentence will be extended.
In March 2019, Steven King, Paul Rolston and Daniel Malone were sentenced to a combined total of 17 years for "conspiracy to defraud."
The trio set up Dreambox - also trading under names such as Dreambox TV Limited and Digital Switchover Limited, and supplied illegal streaming devices (ISDs) which allowed viewers to watch Premier League content without authorisation.
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According to the Premier League, it's estimated the three men made more than £5 million.
King, from Coventry in the West Midlands, was the mastermind and received the largest sentence - seven years and four months - when the Warwick Crown Court jury delivered a guilty verdict.
And in a new development at Warwick Crown Court, Mr King has been ordered to pay back £963,000 from what he earned in the pirate streaming business.
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If he does not forfeit the fee in three months, he will entitled to serve an additional six years and eight months behind players.
As per the judge's ruling, King must also surrender his passport within 28 days and is therefore unable to travel abroad.
Commenting on the court order, Premier League General Counsel Kevin Plumb said: "This result clearly shows that supplying illegal streams is a criminal offence leading to prison sentences and significant financial consequences.
"We are pleased the courts have recognised the seriousness of piracy-related crimes and the Premier League has requested all money recovered goes back to public bodies, including law enforcement agencies, to help them continue the fantastic work they do in helping bring people like this to justice.
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"The vast majority of our fans watch Premier League action via authorised sources but for those who don’t, they must be aware this is not only an illegal activity that can lead to custodial sentences but they also risk becoming victims of hacking and fraud. We will continue to work with law enforcement to tackle piracy of our content and to educate fans on the dangers of watching Premier League matches via unauthorised streams.”
The Premier League are making a serious effort to crack down on illegal streaming. In a separate case, Paul Faulkner was 16-month jail sentence after being found guilty of multiple copyright and fraud offences.
He also had a four-month sentence imposed for watching the illegal content he distributed.
Featured Image Credit: Image: PATopics: Premier League