Jackson, MS—A Brookhaven convenience store employee appeared in court today and pled guilty to selling counterfeit CD’s and DVD’s, announced Attorney General Jim Hood today.

Katie Daniel Binger, age 20, of Summit, appeared in the Circuit Court of Lincoln County before Judge Mike Taylor today. She pled guilty to two counts of Sale of Recordings Without Display of Required Information (MCA Section 97-23-89) and was sentenced to three years suspended with three years non-adjudicated probation. She was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, $500 for investigative costs, $500 to the Crime Victim Compensation fund and to testify truthfully if called against her co-defendant Becky Sue Foster who owned the convenience store where Binger worked.

An investigation by the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division showed Binger was selling illegally downloaded/recorded CD/DVDs for $5 with no sales tax collected. Various types of movies were offered, some of which were still in theaters and not on DVD yet. Over 5,300 CD/DVDs were seized.

“I just want to remind folks that this type of thing is a crime,” said Attorney General Hood. “It is theft of intellectual property. It denies the artists their due share and it denies the state its due sales tax. I strongly encourage Mississippians not to give in to the lure of deal that is too good to be true.”

Foster’s case is pending. As with all cases, the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

More information concerning intellectual property theft and the Attorney General’s efforts (i.e. Operation Knock Out Knock Offs) can be found at http://www.agjimhood.com .