Ex-Archives Employee Sentenced in Bootleg DVD Case

Timajin Nell will serve 10 weekends in prison

A former National Archives employee was sentenced Friday in a CD and DVD copyright infringement case.

Timajin Nell, 54 -- who worked at the National Archives building in College Park -- will serve 10 weekends in prison, followed by six months of home detention and two years of supervised release.

Nell, of Suitland, Md., pled guilty to criminal copyright infringement in March. He admitted in a plea agreement that he made and sold unauthorized copies of copyrighted CDs and DVDs, including pre-release movies.

Nell also admitted to using his government email address to sell the materials to customers -- including other Archives employees -- going back to at least February 2009.

On Oct. 18, 2011, authorities said that Nell sold an unauthorized copy of a movie to an undercover agent for the National Archives and Records Administration .

The following week, officers searched Nell's home and office, seizing "approximately 1,456 pirated DVDs, 447 pirated CDs, 270 commercial DVDs and 178 commercial CDs," authorities said in a press release Friday.

Prosecutors said he used his personal and work computers to illegally reproduce copyrighted materials, and stored DVDs in his office. They also said he stored music files on his government-issued computer.

The total retail value of the copyrighted DVDs and CDs would have been between $5,000 and $10,000, authorities said.

None of the items Nell sold were government property.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us