- Heidi Richards of Trinity Software Distribution fined $50,000 and sentenced to 22 months in prison
- Prosecutors wanted Richards to cough up $242,000 in dividends
- Certificate of Authenticity labels are not intended to be sold separately
A 52-year-old Florida resident has been sentenced to 22 months in federal prison and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine as a result of her association with e-commerce company Trinity Software Distribution.
A court found the company and Heidi Richards guilty of trading Microsoft Certificates of Authenticity (COA), which contained the product keys required to activate Office software and Windows operating systems.
The US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida noted that Richards “paid co-conspirators millions of dollars for thousands of genuine, stand-alone Microsoft COA labels at prices significantly below the retail price of the associated software.”
Jailed for reselling Microsoft COA labels
The indictment details how Richards purchased tens of thousands of genuine COA labels from a Texas-based supplier between 2018 and 2023 at well below retail value before selling them in bulk to customers globally without the licensed software.
“COA labels may not be sold separately from the license and hardware that they are intended to accompany, and they have no independent commercial value,” the US Attorney’s Office wrote.
Richards was found to have wired $5,148,181.50 to the unnamed Texas company during the operation of the scheme. Some examples include purchasing 800 Windows 10 COA labels in July 2018 for $22,100 (under $28 each) and an additional 10,000 Windows 10 Pro COA labels in December 2022 for $200,000 ($20 each).
Ultimately fined $50,000 and sentenced to nearly two years in prison, prosecutors had sought to have Richards pay $242,000 “representing the proceeds obtained from the offenses.”
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews and opinions in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can too follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, video unboxings, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
