Three men who sold illegal streaming devices to rebroadcast football from more than 20 pay-TV companies have been sentenced to a total of 17 years in jail for defrauding Premier League.
Steven King, the mastermind behind the scheme, has been sentenced to seven years and four months’ imprisonment. Paul Rolston received a sentence of six years and four months, and Daniel Malone a sentence of three years and three months.
The jury at Warwick Crown Court delivered their guilty verdict after a four-week trial.
The three who traded under the names Dreambox (unincorporated), Dreambox TV Limited, and Digital Switchover Limited, ran websites dreamboxtv.co.uk and yourfootie.com. They provided unlicensed access to Premier League football to more than 1,000 pubs, clubs, and homes throughout England and Wales, netting more than £5 million.
The operation ran for more than ten years using a range of technologies to continue the fraud. Most recently they engaged third parties located in the UK and across Europe to create illegal broadcast streams, which they then sold on to their customers. Their suppliers included Terry O’Reilly, who was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment in 2016 for a conspiracy to defraud the Premier League and its pay-TV providers.