48-year-old Gilberto Sanchez has pleaded guilty to felony copyright infringement for uploading an unfinished copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine in April 2009.
Sanchez, a New York-based glass installer and musician, faces up to three years in jail and a hefty $250,000 fine.
He is currently awaiting sentence by U.S. District Judge Margaret Morrow, who will decide how much time Sanchez should serve for his offense.
The 48-year-old was indicted in December 2009 on a single count of illegally transfering an incomplete “work print” of Wolverine to Megaupload.com under the screen name “SkillyGilly.”
Predictably, a red-faced Fox enlisted the help of the FBI to track Sanchez down after learning of the leaked movie.
The day laborer eventually admitted to uploading the film, but insisted Wolverine had been purchased for $5 from a street vendor in the Bronx.
“The federal governmnet takes movie piracy very seriously,” assistant U.S. attorney Lisa Feldman told the HollyWood Reporter.
“The fact that we prosecuted this case demonstrates the government’s effort to work with the entertainment industry in combatting such intellectual property crimes.”
