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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Los Angeles woman was sentenced on Friday to nine years in prison and ordered to pay $11 million in restitution for her role in one of the largest counterfeit software cases in U.S. history. The sentence imposed on 52-year-old Lisa Chen by Superior Court Judge Ronni MacLaren was the longest prison term for a first-time conviction on software piracy, prosecutors said.
"I'm pleased that such a significant loss has been appropriately punished," Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Fairtlough said. "This sentence sends a message that law enforcement will vigorously investigate and prosecute thefts of intellectual property."
Chen was one of four people arrested in November of 2001 as part of a ring that prosecutors said imported nearly $98 million in counterfeit computer products and software from Asia, including knockoffs of Microsoft Corp.'s (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) Windows XP (news - web sites), Windows 2000 (news - web sites) NT and Microsoft Office 2000 Pro software, along with manuals, user license agreements and other materials.
The ring was broken up after an 18-month investigation.
Pat Mueller, a senior investigator for Microsoft, told reporters that Chen was a "key player" in the ring, which was bringing high-quality counterfeit products into the country.
"It is very difficult to come up with a counterfeit product that is as good as we saw here," Mueller said.
"I'm pleased that such a significant loss has been appropriately punished," Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Fairtlough said. "This sentence sends a message that law enforcement will vigorously investigate and prosecute thefts of intellectual property."
Chen was one of four people arrested in November of 2001 as part of a ring that prosecutors said imported nearly $98 million in counterfeit computer products and software from Asia, including knockoffs of Microsoft Corp.'s (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) Windows XP (news - web sites), Windows 2000 (news - web sites) NT and Microsoft Office 2000 Pro software, along with manuals, user license agreements and other materials.
The ring was broken up after an 18-month investigation.
Pat Mueller, a senior investigator for Microsoft, told reporters that Chen was a "key player" in the ring, which was bringing high-quality counterfeit products into the country.
"It is very difficult to come up with a counterfeit product that is as good as we saw here," Mueller said.