Three men in different states have been indicted for a nationwide copyrighted media theft scheme that lined their pockets with a combined $30 million.

Authorities named Bill Omar Carrasquillo, 35, of New Jersey, Jesse Gonzales, 42, of California, and Michael Barone, 36, New York, as the men behind the cable TV theft scheme.

The indictment explains that between March 2016 and at least November 2019, the trio ran a scheme in which they obtained copyrighted cable television from fraudulently obtained cable TV accounts and then streamed the copyrighted material to members of their own subscription streaming service.

In addition to their illegal large-scale television streaming service, authorities also alleged that the men knowingly made “fraudulent misrepresentations to banks and merchant processors in an effort to obtain merchant processing accounts.”

According to reports, the men were able to secure equipment from China that allowed them to circumvent the encryption measures that companies like Verizon Fios, Comcast Corp, and other cable television networks have in place to protect copyrighted media. After being able to obtain the copyrighted television media including pay-per-view content, they were then able to stream it to their own paying subscribers.

The trio had amassed thousands of paying subscribers to their television streaming service thanks in part to Carrasquillo, who was a prominent YouTuber. Carrasquillo, who went by “Omni In A Hellcat” online, had amassed thousands of followers online where he flaunted his lavish lifestyle. It was to these same followers that he advertised his television streaming service.

Donte Mills, a New York lawyer representing Carrasquillo, pushed back against the Justice Department’s claim that the business Carrasquillo ran operated outside legal limits. "Mr. Carrasquillo tapped into a brand new, unregulated, industry and was very successful," He said. "Most people are called pioneers when they do that; Omar is called a criminal."

Mills also threw in a curveball insinuating that the indictment was racially motivated. “The government assumes my client was not smart enough to do this legally because of his background. He is and we will prove that," Mills explained.

The Justice Department explains that Carrasquillo allegedly made false statements to agents about his profits and assets. Carrasquillo is believed to have spent most of the money he made on lavish homes and extravagant vehicles including high-end sports cars. The indictment also lists a massive 5,100-square foot property that sat on 2.5 acres of land. Records show that Carrasquillo acquired the home for $687,000. When agents attempted to seize the vehicles, Carrasquillo allegedly attempted to hide the cars.

All three of the defendants face one count of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement along with one count of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Both Carrasquillo and Gonzalez are charged with one count of reproduction of a protected work while Barone faces two additional counts of access device fraud.

The acting special agent in charge of the FBI's Philadelphia division Bradley S. Benavides explains, “You can’t just go and monetize someone else’s copyrighted content with impunity. That’s the whole point of securing a copyright. Theft is theft, and if you’re going to willfully steal another party’s intellectual property, the FBI stands ready to step in and shut you down.”