Nintendo hacker Gary Bowser was sentenced to 40 months in prison after admitting to his role in software piracy.
After a long legal battle, Nintendo hacker Gary Bowser was sentenced to 40 months in prison. While the name is similar, he has nothing to do with Nintendo of America’s current president, Doug Bowser, or the notorious Mushroom Kingdom villain.
Nintendo Hacker sentenced to more than three years in prison
The U.S. District Court for the Western Washington ruled that Bowser and Team Xecuter caused Nintendo $65 million in damages due to “console hacking software and devices used to play”. The court sentenced Bowser to 40 months in prison for “pirated Nintendo Switch games”. In the “public face” of the hacker attempt, the prosecution sought to sentence Bowser to five years in prison, while his defense argued that Bowser was used as a scapegoat to deter other hackers and was “the least guilty”.
Nintendo thanked U.S. law enforcement departments and the legal system, which saw Bowser plead guilty and agreed to pay Nintendo $10 million in damages, in addition to the $4.5 million fine awarded as part of a plea bargain. “Nintendo appreciates the hard work and tireless efforts of federal prosecutors and law enforcement to curb the global illegal activity that has seriously damaged Nintendo and the video game industry,” the company said in a press release.
Bowser has been working with a modchip team since 2013, selling and profiting from console mods that allow piracy. During the lawsuit, he admitted to “developing, manufacturing, marketing and selling various bypass devices” that allow users to play pirated versions of games. Bowser was eventually found in the Dominican Republic and was sent to the United States to face charges. The other members of the hacker group, on the other hand, could not be punished because they were in countries without an extradition commitment to the United States.