Jail sentence for Black Country man
Nov 24 2008 by Chris Henwood, Birmingham Mail
A BLACK Country man who bought a Spanish home, top of the range car and expensive surgery by selling counterfeit games, films and music is starting a three-year jail sentence.
Steven Raymond Adams, aged 38, peddled his illegally copied goods at computer fairs and over the internet but was caught following a major investigation by Wolverhampton Trading Standards, West Midlands Police and investigators from the Entertainment Leisure and Software Publishers Association.
It is estimated he made around £200,000 from the operation, which cost the industry nearly five times as much.
Adams, of Loweswater Drive, Lower Gornal, Dudley, owned a Spanish apartment, drove a Range Rover and even enjoyed a brief dalliance with celebrities by appearing in a health and fitness article in national paper.
In it Adams bragged about spending £10,000 on extensive weight-loss surgery for him and a breast enlargement op for his 33-year-old girlfriend and partner in crime, Julie Frendo.
Adams, together with Frendo and third accomplice Greg Gartside, 31, had masterminded a counterfeiting operation across the Midlands and North West England, which ran from February 2004 to January 2008.
His illegal pirating operation was brought to a halt by trading standards and police when they apprehended him at Wolverhampton racecourse selling the fake copies from a stall called Midland Console Modifications.
At Wolverhampton Crown Court Adams was jailed for three years, and Frendo handed a 12-month sentence, suspended for 18 months. The two admitted charges relating to the illegal copying, along with Greg Gartside, of Chorley, Lancashire, who knowingly assisted in Adams’ illegal empire.
Adams pleaded guilty to 44 counts, all related to offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994, and asked for five additional offences to be taken into consideration in relation to items found in an industrial unit raided on July 9, where he was operating a copying factory.
Adams is also now subject to a Proceeds of Crime Act Investigation which is being jointly conducted by Wolverhampton Trading Standards and West Midlands Police.
Michael Rawlinson, managing director of ELSPA, said: “This is one of the most unusual cases ELSPA has ever been involved with.
“The sheer persistence of Adams, Frendo and Gartside of selling illegally copied video games, film and music is staggering.”
