Convicted
child molestor going back to prison 04-08-2001
RICHARD ORR-The
Plainview Daily Herald
Herald Staff Writer
A Plainview man who served time for molesting a 3-year-old girl
is going back to prison on child pornography and related convictions.
Lubbock federal Judge Sam
Cummings sentenced 51-year-old Randy Lee Williamson, no street address
available, to 17 years after Williamson pleaded guilty last week
to four of 141 felony counts against him: conspiracy, possession
of child pornography, possession of obscene material and soliciting
sex from underage girl.
Other charges - including
criminal copyright infringement, dealing in counterfeit labels and
a large number of child pornography counts - were dropped in return
for the guilty plea.
According to court records, the copyright and counterfeit-label
charges stemmed from a music smuggling and pirating operation with
ties to the former Soviet republic of Belarus. Copyrighted works
would be "e;compressed"e; and stored on CDs containing
a large number of pieces - including 26 Beatle albums on one CD
selling for $40.
Federal agents raided Williamson's home here in 1998 after he cut
a deal to sell an undercover officer 300 pirated CDs for $9,000.
During a search of the premises, more than 100 pieces of pornography
were found stored in his computer.
They included pictures of a woman having sex with a dog, and one
of a nude young girl who had been bound and blindfolded. According
to court records, Williamson served half of a 15-year sentence for
molesting a 3-year-old family member several years ago.
Evidence in his latest case included on-line conversations between
him and a purported Lubbock teenager, wherein he solicited sex from
her and said he wanted to photograph her performing sexual acts.
Williamson had run two Internet businesses from his Plainview home:
First Class Computers and Online Connection Services.
From The Plainview Daily Herald
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RIAA
Anti-Piracy Efforts Lead to 17 Years for Music Counterfeiter
Plainview,
TX, April 23, 2001 – Again proving that the law takes counterfeiting
seriously, a Plainview,
Texas man was sentenced to 17 ˝ years in federal prison earlier
this month after pleading guilty to conspiracy and smuggling charges
related to criminal copyright and trademark infringement and other
crimes.
Randy
Lee Williamson was sentenced on Thursday, April 5, 2001.
Mr.
Williamson was initially investigated by law enforcement, with
the cooperation of the RIAA Texas office, in 1998 for manufacturing
and selling pirate CD-Rs. Among other acts, Mr. Williamson was
using MP3-encoded music to burn 26 Beatles albums onto one CD-R.
The discs were then sold for $40 through his online business,
First Class Computers and Online Connection.
The
sentence was further impacted after Williamson also pled guilty
to receipt of child pornography, receipt of obscene material,
and attempted sexual exploitation of a minor. During a search
warrant executed at Williamson’s home in June 1998 for sound recording
violations, authorities discovered more than 100 pornographic
and obscene images of children on his computers,
“The
conviction of Randy Williamson is a reminder that many music pirates
are often engaged in other significant criminal activities,” said
Frank Creighton, senior vice president, Director of Anti-Piracy.
“We would like to thank the Texas Department of Public Safety,
the U.S. Customs Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for working
with us to bring Mr. Williamson to justice and creating the necessary
deterrent that benefits not just our member companies and artists,
but the public in general.”
The
RIAA is a trade association whose members create, manufacture
and/or distribute approximately 84% of all legitimate sound recordings
produced and sold in the United States. The Anti-Piracy division
of the RIAA investigates the illegal production and distribution
of sound recordings that cost the music industry hundreds of millions
of dollars a year domestically. Consumers, retailers and replicators
can report suspected music piracy to the RIAA by dialing a toll-free
hotline, 1.800.BAD.BEAT, or sending email to
badbeat@riaa.com
or
cdreward@riaa.com.
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