Man sentenced to prison for music, film piracy

Decharmus Grover was sentenced Monday by federal Judge William Haynes in Nashville, according to a release issued Tuesday by the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Grover, formerly of Cincinnati, was arrested in November 2005 in the parking lot of a Dollar General store in Nashville where he was selling the materials.

Authorities found more than 500 copied recordings and films in his car.

They also found copying equipment that was powered by the car’s battery, blank CDs and DVDs and nearly $10,000 in cash.

Some of the DVDs included new films that were still being shown in theaters. In all, Grover had an estimated $11,000 worth of copyrighted works, according to the release.

The copies will be destroyed, and the seized cash will be paid to the victim industries as restitution.

“Violations of intellectual property crimes and copyright laws such as this occupy a high priority with both the Department of Justice and this U.S. Attorney’s office in particular, given that so many residents of Middle Tennessee are involved in the recording industry,” U.S. Attorney Craig Morford said in the release.