Jackson, MS - A Biloxi man is going to prison for the sale and distribution of recordings without the display of required information, announced Attorney General Jim Hood today.

Richard Earl Tyler, 53, of Biloxi was sentenced recently before Judge Larry Bourgeois in Harrison County Circuit Court after pleading guilty to selling and distributing recordings without the display of required information.  Tyler was sentenced to serve eight years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections .  Tyler was also prosecuted by the Harrison County District Attorney’s Office for aggravated assault in an unrelated case.  In that case, he was sentenced to 20 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.  The Judge ordered both sentences to run concurrent with 15 years suspended, leaving five years to serve. 

This investigation began with the Biloxi Police Department conducting a search warrant on Tyler’s residence after gathering information relating to his role in the aggravated assault case.  While serving the warrant, Biloxi Police Department investigators located 13,653 counterfeit CDs/DVDs, which were turned over to the Department of Homeland Security Investigations.  The case was then referred to the Attorney General’s Office, where it was investigated by Investigator Lee McDivitt and prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Mark Ward of the Consumer Protection Division. 

“These type crimes hurt our nation’s recording artists and the industry as a whole when people let greed motivate them to commit intellectual property theft,” said Attorney General Hood.  “It may seem like a victimless crime, but it is not.”