Federal grand jury indicts 10 accused in Central Valley pirated movies, music scheme

A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted 10 people, including a Ceres man, accused of participating in a counterfeit music and movie operation, distributing thousands of CDs and DVDs to sellers in Modesto, Turlock, Atwater and Stockton.

The defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement and related crimes, along with trafficking in counterfeit labels, documentation and packaging, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento.

Those charged in the indictment: Cornelio Rojas, 50, of Ceres; Victor Flores Fuentes, 38; Edgar Hipatl Rodriguez, 25; Angel Gomez, 34; Ramiro Mendes, 34; Efrain Lozada Rosas, 33; Antonio Morales, 31; Enrique Aguilar, 25; and Eric Ivanez, 21, all of San Jose; and Jesus Cuevas Lopez, 24, of Southern California.

On March 13, investigators found warehouse and office space used by the defendants to store thousands of counterfeit music CDs and movie DVDs, federal prosecutors said. The counterfeit material included movies in theatrical release and not yet available for sale on DVD.

The prosecutors said the defendants distributed the pirated CDs and DVDs for resale in Modesto, Turlock, Atwater, Stockton and throughout the state.

Rojas remains in custody and was scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Fresno. The other defendants were in custody in San Jose and expected to make their first court appearance in Fresno in the next few weeks.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

This story was originally published March 27, 2015 at 10:22 AM with the headline "Federal grand jury indicts 10 accused in Central Valley pirated movies, music scheme."