Man Who Uploaded ‘Deadpool’ To Facebook Faces 6 Months In Jail
There’s nothing criminal to download movies for free for your personal streaming, but it becomes a bigger issue when you upload flicks to Facebook. If by any chance you get caught, it could cost you your freedom. 22-year-old Trevon Franklin found out the hard way. In early 2016, not too long after the first installment of the Deadpool series premiered in theaters, he shared a pirated a copy of the film on the popular social network.
The Fresno, Calif. native downloaded it from the file-sharing site Putlocker, then uploaded to his Facebook account. The post went on to clock in 6 million views, which caused the FBI and copyright owner Twentieth Century Fox to look into thing. Last summer, Franklin was arrested and indicted.
This May, Franklin reportedly copped to a plea agreement with the government in exchange for authorities agreeing to recommend the judge give him a reduced sentence. The sentencing position reads, “The government recommends the high-end sentence of six months imprisonment to be followed by a one-year term of supervised release and a mandatory special assessment of $100.”
From the looks of it, the government has no sympathy for the 22-year old co-signing the prison sentence because of the “brazen and public” manner in which Franklin broke the law. To them, he appeared “not to care” that this would affect the makers behind the movie. Franklin even went as far as creating a Facebook group called “Bootleg Movie” posting “EVERYBODY JOIN” and let people know he would be posting more movies on the page.
Franklin’s attorney argues that he has no criminal records and regrets the mistakes that he made. He also mentions that Franklin has encountered many personal issues in the past and believes that a one-year probation sentence is fair enough. It is now in the court’s hands to decide what sentence is appropriate in this case.