- Heidi Richards of Trinity Software Distribution fined $50,000 and sentenced to 22 months in prison
- Prosecutors wanted Richards to pay $242,000 in proceeds
- Certificate of Authenticity labels are not intended to be sold separately
A 52-year-old Florida resident was sentenced to 22 months in federal prison and fined $50,000 because of her ties to e-commerce company Trinity Software Distribution.
A court found the company and Heidi Richards guilty of trafficking in Microsoft certificate of authenticity (COA) labels, which contained product keys needed to activate Office software and Windows operating systems.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida noted that Richards “paid millions of dollars to the co-conspirators for thousands of genuine, stand-alone Microsoft COA labels at prices significantly below the retail price of the associated software.”
Jailed for reselling Microsoft COA labels
The indictment details how Richards purchased tens of thousands of authentic COA labels from a Texas-based supplier between 2018 and 2023 for far less than the retail value, before reselling them in bulk to customers around the world without the licensed software.
“COA tags are not to be sold separately from the license and materials they are intended to accompany, and they have no independent commercial value,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote.
It was established that Richards wired $5,148,181.50 to the unnamed Texas company while the scheme was in operation. Some examples include purchasing 800 Windows 10 COA labels in July 2018 for $22,100 (less than $28 each) and an additional 10,000 Windows 10 Pro COA labels in December 2022 for $200,000 ($20 each).
Ultimately fined $50,000 and sentenced to nearly two years, prosecutors had sought to make Richards pay $242,000, “which represents the proceeds of the offenses.”
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