Security News > 2024 > July > Former Avaya employee gets 4 years for $88M license piracy scheme
The three men, Raymond Bradley "Brad" Pearce, Dusti O. Pearce, and Jason M. Hines, were also ordered to forfeit large amounts of money as part of their sentencing, ranging from $2 to $4 million.
"According to court documents, Brad and Dusti Pearce conspired with Hines to commit wire fraud in a scheme that involved generating and then selling unauthorized Avaya Direct International software licenses," reads a Department of Justice announcement.
The announcement says B. Pearce also hijacked the accounts of former Avaya employees so he could generate additional licenses without getting detected.
Together with Dusti O. Pearce, who handled the accounting for the illegal operation, the two resold those licenses to Hines, the owner of Direct Business Services International and a former Avaya reseller.
Brad Pearce was sentenced to four years in prison and must forfeit $4 million.
Dusti O. Pearce was sentenced to one year and a day in prison and must also forfeit $4 million.