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When Matthew Crippen wasn't studying at Cal State Fullerton, he was allegedly modding and selling game consoles that played pirated software. Now, his purported illicit business venture could land him up to 10 years in prison. According to NBC Los Angeles, the 27-year-old college student was taken into custody on Monday for his purported criminal extracurricular activities.

Crippen's arrest comes after a grand jury indicted him on two counts of violating the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, which forbids tampering with a device in order to circumvent copyright countermeasures. Immediately following his indictment, he pleaded not guilty and posted $5,000 bail, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In May 2009, agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement seized more than 10 Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo consoles from Crippen's home. The ICE officials were granted a search warrant to investigate his house, following a tip it received from the Entertainment Software Association.

A 2008 ICE report states that piracy and counterfeiting "cost the US economy in excess of $200 billion per year and more than 750,000 American jobs." According to the ESA, one criminal, Van Truong of San Jose, was sentenced to 10 months in prison and $5,000 in restitution earlier this year, after police seized about 4,000 pirated movie DVDs and over 300 pirated audio CDs in his residence.

Another notable bust occurred when a San Diego man was arrested in 2007 after a raid of his home yielded over 1,000 counterfeit discs and numerous modchips. He was charged with 10 felony-level counts, including grand theft, computer crime, and trafficking counterfeit marks.