Three people have been sentenced for their roles in an international scheme to sell pirated business telephone system software licenses worth over $88 million, officials stated.
Raymond Bradley “Brad” Pearce, 48, from Tuttle, Oklahoma, received a four-year prison sentence and must forfeit $4 million. Dusti O. Pearce, 46, also from Tuttle, was sentenced to one year and a day in prison and must forfeit $4 million.
Jason M. Hines, 44, from Caldwell, New Jersey, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, an additional 18 months of home confinement, and must forfeit $2 million.
Additionally, the three defendants will pay restitution: $17 million from Brad Pearce, $10 million from Dusti Pearce, and over $5 million from Hines. The court will hold a separate hearing soon to finalize the restitution details.
Brad and Dusti Pearce conspired with Jason Hines to commit wire fraud by generating and selling unauthorized Avaya Direct International (ADI) software licenses, according to court documents.
These licenses open up features of the IP Office telephone system, which thousands of businesses use worldwide.
The ADI licensing system has since been decommissioned.
Avaya Holdings Corporation, based in California, sold IP Office to many midsize and small businesses globally.
Customers needed to purchase software licenses from an authorized Avaya distributor or reseller to unlock features like voicemail. Avaya used software license keys to control access to its copyright-protected software, ensuring only paying customers could use it.
Additionally, each software license had to be linked to a unique memory card that the end user needed to keep to use the licenses.
In July 2023, Hines pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. In September 2023, the Pearces also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The FBI Oklahoma City Field Office investigated the case.
Senior Counsel Matthew A. Lamberti of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Senior Litigation Counsel Julia E. Barry for the Western District of Oklahoma prosecuted the case.