40°
Bill Omar Carrasquillo – aka “Omi in a Hellcat” -- has insisted that he amassed a $30 million fortune, a stockpile of more than 50 vehicles and dozens of properties through a construction company and as a landlord.
Federal authorities, however, say that Carrasquillo, 35, of the Gloucester town of Swedesboro, and partners Jesse Gonzales, 42, of Pico Rivera, CA, and Michael Barone, 36, of Queens, NY, offered subscribers all-inclusive access to content from Comcast, Verizon FiOS, DirectTV and HBO for as low as $15 a month.
Sporting events, on-demand shows such as “Game of Thrones” and “Bones” and movies were made available to users, a 69-page, 62-count an indictment unsealed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Allentown, PA alleges.
The trio are charged with, among other crimes, copyright infringement, wire fraud and tax evasion.
Carrasquillo has claimed more than 800,000 followers on Instagram and more than 500,000 on YouTube.
The FBI raided his homes two years ago, seizing supercars, Rolex watches and bank accounts, as part of an investigation that led to his arrest.
Carrasquillo had claimed that federal agents took all of his assets – among them, more than a dozen luxury vehicles, Rolexes and more -- leaving him “down to nothing.”
They, in turn, claimed that he tried to hide some of the vehicles, including a Freightliner recreational vehicle and a McLaren.
Federal authorities have targeted more than $34 million, 57 vehicles -- including Lamborghinis, motorcycles and other luxury vehicles -- and 52 area properties for forfeiture, records show.
Carrasquillo live-streamed his arrest by federal agents Tuesday at his Woolwich home, which was formerly owned by retired Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins.
He also told FOX29 that “no copyright holders ever got in contact with me to say, ‘Hey, you can’t do this.’
“We’re going to have our day in court now,” he said. “There are certain ways that I set the business up that’s going to prove a million percent that it wasn’t illegal.
“I found a loophole, I ran through it and I did great. There are other colleagues in the same business I was in and they never got in trouble with the FBI,” he told FOX29.
Federal authorities say the trio bought encoders from China that allowed them to strip copyright protections from legit cable subscriptions through Comcast, Verizon and DirecTV.
They then streamed the content online through servers they controlled, the indictment alleges.
The illegal streaming service was variously called Reboot, Gears TV, Reloaded and Gears Reloaded after it was launched in 2016.
Carrasquillo publicized the illegal operation on his social media platforms before federal authorities pulled the service’s plug in 2019, authorities said.
Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania described the conspiracy as a “massive, years-long scheme to steal copyrighted content.”
“You can’t just go and monetize someone else’s copyrighted content with impunity,” said Bradley S. Benavides, the acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office. “That’s the whole point of securing a copyright.
“Theft is theft.”
A federal judge in Allentown released Carrasquillo on a $50,000 bond pending a Sept. 28 arraignment.
He then went to Instagram and posted: “I want to thank all my friends, seriously, for being there. I couldn’t do it without ya’ll.”
Click here to follow Daily Voice Drexel Hill-Upper Darby and receive free news updates.
