Owners of illegal football streaming platform sentenced to a combined 30 years in prison

Harsh penalty imposed on the miscreants.

Owners of illegal football streaming platform sentenced to a combined 30 years in prison

A player playing with the official Premier League ball. (Credits: Premier League)

Authorities sentenced five men to 30 years and seven months in prison for illegally streaming Premier League football events to tens of thousands of fans. The gang, ranging in age from 30 to 46, sold consumers TV sticks that enabled them to watch matches that UK broadcasters did not carry live due to the 3pm blackout.

Their business, considered as the largest so far, received more than £7 million in subscription fees from 50,000 users. The group offered a service – Flawless TV – for £10 per month. In comparison, a membership with Sky Sports or BT Sports would cost between £60 and £80 a month.

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Mark Gould, 36, Steven Gordon, 46, Peter Jolley, 41, Christopher Felvus, 36, William Brown, 33, and Zak Smith, 30 were jailed on Tuesday. The Chesterfield Justice Centre charged them for conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, and contempt of court. Judge Martin Hurst identified Gould as the driving force behind the organization, and he sentenced the 36-year-old to 11 years in jail. Gordon, Jolley, Felvus, and Brown were all sentenced to three to six years in prison.

FS Video

The sentence followed the Premier League’s unusual private prosecution. Lawyers for the Premier League claimed the men were charged with fraud to preserve “some of the world’s most valuable content.” It came after a lengthy examination into trading standards headed by Hammersmith and Fulham Council.

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How henious a crime is illegal streaming?

fan watching football on tv
Fan watching live football on their television. (Credits: Football Talk)

The lengthy sentences have sparked a debate on social media with regards to the severity of a crime like this. There have been previous instances of streaming related prosecutions too – such as the Dreambox streaming operation.

Last year, authorities fined a man around £1 million for selling unlawful streaming gadgets. In March 2019, authorities sentenced Steven King to seven years and four months in prison as he was one of three persons behind the Dreambox piracy operation.

He received a three-month deadline in June of last year to repay £963,000. The fine was equivalent to the sum he earned by selling the illicit devices. Failure to do so would have resulted in his jail term being doubled.

Meanwhile, Flawless TV viewers may face legal action as well. Investigators now have the personal information of many of those who paid for the service. As a result, this raises the question of what action might be taken against them.

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