Nintendo hacker Gary Bowser has been sentenced to three years in prison and handed a huge $14.5 million fine.
Bowser was the face of Nintendo ROM hacker group Team Xecuter, a team known for developing and selling modchips. He was arrested back in October 2020 and taken to trial in the US to face 11 felony counts including money laundering and wire fraud. Originally Bowser only pled guilty to two counts: ‘conspiracy to circumvent technological measures and to traffic in circumvention devices’ but since then more news and evidence has come to light about other things he was involved in, none of which had anything to do with a princess.
Originally Bowser was looking at more than ten years in prison, but thanks to the fury of Bowser, his lawyers managed to get the courts to take that down to only forty months. As of the writing of this article we have no comment from Bowser or his lawyers on the situation or the sentence, nor on the location of his partners.
Nintendo issued a statement saying it “appreciates the hard work and tireless efforts of federal prosecutors and law enforcement agencies to curb illegal activities on a global scale that cause serious harm to Nintendo and the videogame industry”.
Bowser’s partners, Max Louarn and Yuanning Chen, have not yet been taken to trial, with Louarn having an extradition matter pending in France and Chen having completely disappeared. Hopefully Bowser can find a hobby in prison to take up his time. Perhaps tennis, golf or go-karting.
