Man who copied music online barred from sites

4/15/2006

BOWLING GREEN A Perrysburg man who illegally copied recordings of the 1960s pop music group The Monkees and sold them on the Internet has been ordered to have no contact with online auction sites.

Robert Russo, 42, pleaded guilty in February to a bill of information in Wood County Common Pleas Court charging him with criminal simulation, a fifth-degree felony.

At his sentencing this week, Judge Reeve Kelsey placed him on community control sanctions for two years and ordered him to not have any contact directly or indirectly with any online auction sites and not conduct any Internet commerce.

Russo also was ordered to complete 300 hours of community service, pay a $5,000 fine and court costs, and forfeit property seized by police.

In a search of Russo s Portside Circle apartment, authorities seized electronic audio copying equipment and about 1,000 compact discs.

He sold more than $8,900 worth of copied CDs by The Monkees between August, 2000 and December, 2005, police said.