Steven Hale had access to blockbusters before its premiere. What he did with them ended the FBI knocking on his door

Steven Hale did not appear in the credits of any blockbusters, but for more than a year, his name was linked to Some of the most anticipated films of the industry. Not as an actor, director or screenwriter, but as the employee who, According to the United States Department of Justicehe stole early copies of great premieres before they reached the public.

Hale, 37 years old and resident in Memphis (Tennessee), worked for a multinational company dedicated to manufacturing and distributing DVDs and Blu-rays for the main Hollywood studies. Between February 2021 and March 2022, it would have stolen more than a thousand records in the pre-launch phase, that is, ready for commercial distribution but not yet available for sale.

According to the registration order cited by Torrentfreak1,160 albums were seized during the investigation. Among the seized titles are ‘Fast & Furious 9‘,’Black Widow‘,’Sing 2‘,’Venom: There will be a killing‘,’Matrix: Resurrections‘,’Godzilla vs. Kong‘,’ ‘Jungle Cruise‘Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City‘, among others.

A case that has not gone unnoticed

The case surprises, among other things, because it shows that the physical format still has a considerable weight. Although we are in the middle of 2025 and the consumption of content revolves around the platforms on demand such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Disney+, and, of course, to the movie theaters, The DVD and the Blu-ray They have not disappeared. It is not just a matter of collecting: there are still those who prefer to have their films in physical support.

According to the accusationHale sold the discs through electronic commerce platforms. One of those albums, an early copy of Spider-Man: no Way Home, was allegedly “ripe”, that is, digitally extracted by skipping anticopia protections, and distributed on the Internet before its official departure date. The FBI argues that this version was discharged tens of millions of times, with an alleged equally millionaire economic damage for responsible study.

The investigation began in March 2022, when the authorities registered their domicile. Although all the details of how the filtration or why the arrest was not produced until later, the case has evolved significantly this May, this May has identified all the details. May 27, Hale reached an agreement with the Prosecutor’s Office: He declared himself guilty of one of the charges of criminal infraction of copyright, and the Department of Justice withdrew the rest of the accusations, including those related to the interstate transport of stolen merchandise.

In that same agreement, the US government reviewed its estimation of damage. Although initially there were tens of millions of dollars, it is now recognized that the total value of the infraction would not exceed $ 40,000. In return, the Prosecutor’s Office has recommended a maximum penalty reduction in recognition since Hale has assumed the responsibility of their actions.

The sentence is not yet defined. A hearing will be held in the west district of Tennessee next August. If the court accepts the conditions of the agreement, Hale could face a conviction of Up to five years in prisona fine of up to $ 250,000, three years of supervised freedom after the fulfillment of the penalty, and the obligation to pay restitution to the rights holders who prove to have suffered losses.

Images | Freepik | Alec Favale | Kent Madsen

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