Recently, Nintendo announced that Gary Bowser was sentenced to 40 months in prison for being accused of manufacturing and selling cracked devices that let users play illegal ROMs on consoles including Switch and 3DS.
Bowser is a member of a hacking group called Team-Xecuter, which in 2013 began making and selling cracked devices that allow users to play illegal roMs on consoles like Switch and 3DS.
According to the U.S. government, the group's criminal enterprises illegally earned tens of millions of dollars in sales, causing losses to the victim Nintendo by up to $150 million.
In a statement released Feb. 10, Nintendo said, "Thank you to federal prosecutors and law enforcement agencies for their tireless efforts to curb illegal activities around the world that have caused serious damage to Nintendo and the video game industry." ”
"Nintendo would like to thank in particular the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigation Agency (HSI), the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington, D.C., the U.S. Department of Justice's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Division, and the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs for their significant contributions and assistance."
Bowser was arrested in September 2020 and appeared in court last October on 11 counts of felonies. He did not stand trial, but pleaded guilty to two charges and paid $4.5 million to Nintendo.
Nintendo initially wanted to sentence hackers to 5 years in prison.
Bowser's legal team has asked the court to sentence him to 19 months in prison, and if he has served his sentence, he will be released within three months.
In another civil case, Bowser was asked to pay Nintendo an additional $10 million fine for his involvement in selling a host-cracked chip.