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Convicted Oscar "Screener" Pirate Found Dead in Jail Cell

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 1, 2005 - 7:56am.
Los Angeles -- The Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday that a man awaiting sentencing after being convicted on federal charges of Internet movie piracy has been found dead in his jail cell. Authorities told the Times that Russell Sprague, 52, may have died of a heart attack; an autopsy is scheduled for today. Sprague faced up to three years in prison for copying and posting online a number of films up for Oscars last year from the "screener" versions sent out by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences to Oscars voters. Sprague was also ordered to pay Columbia Pictures over $300,000 in damages. Actor Carmine Caridi, the Oscar voter and initial recipient of the screeners obtained by Sprague, was expelled by the Academy but not charged with any crime in connection with the prosecution of Sprague. "It's so sad," Sprague's attorney Anthony Brooklier told the Times. "He was upbeat. He had already served nine months. He may have only been looking at a maximum of eight more months."
tags: Oscar | Pirate | Screener | Dead | Jail Cell |