DirecTV in the News

Man Accused of Stealing Programming from DirecTV

A Midstate man is facing federal criminal charges that he participated in an international conspiracy to facilitate the theft of television programming from satellite provider DirecTV.

The federal indictments of Shelbyville, Tenn., resident Jeffrey Lynn Sanders, and three other people — Canadian resident Bill Rath, Mike Hill of Anderson, S.C., and Gregg Chaffin of Franklin Furnace, Ohio — were unsealed yesterday by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky in Paducah.

The four are accused of being part of an international conspiracy dating as far back as 1996 to manufacture thousands of counterfeit ''smart'' cards. The cards provide illegal access to DirecTV programming.

Rath allegedly took customer orders in Canada and had the cards manufactured in the United States by Sanders, Hill and Chaffin.

Purchasers of the cards were instructed to make wire payments to an offshore bank account established by Rath, according to court papers. The account, which is estimated to have received wire transfers amounting to millions of dollars, was uncovered by DirecTV investigators, who informed federal authorities.

A lengthy investigation by Paducah-based agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service ensued.

The four men face charges of felony money laundering, conspiracy and fraud by access device.

The investigation is part of a concerted effort by DirecTV, the nation's largest digital satellite provider with 10.5 million customers, to prevent the pirating of its signal.

In addition to assisting in criminal and civil investigations, the company regularly sends out electronic signals with its programming feed that wipe out illegal access cards.

DirecTV has also sent out approximately 10,000 letters to suspected signal-stealers, threatening prosecution.

Fines for such activity can range from $1,000 to $10,000.