Console hacker Gary Bowser is getting released from federal prison after spending over two years behind bars, as first reported by TorrentFreak (via Gizmodo). In an interview with YouTuber Nick Moses, Bowser says he was released to a Washington detention center last month, where he now awaits his return to his home country of Canada.
Bowser has been freed from prison
Gary Bowser is on his way home to Canada, but he’s still on the hook to pay $14.5 million to Nintendo.
Gary Bowser is on his way home to Canada, but he’s still on the hook to pay $14.5 million to Nintendo.
Photo by James Bareham / The Verge
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Bowser was arrested and charged with fraud in 2020 for his role in Team Xecuter, a hacking group that made and sold mod chips for the Nintendo Switch, 3DS, NES Classic Edition, Sony’s PlayStation Classic, and other consoles. Since Bowser was living in the Dominican Republic at the time, he was extradited to the US to serve his 40-month sentence, which he says has been cut short due to good behavior.
Although Bowser has been released from prison, that still doesn’t free him from the staggering amount he owes in restitution to Nintendo. Bowser agreed to pay $10 million to settle a piracy lawsuit filed by Nintendo, and that’s on top of a separate federal court order that requires him to pay the gaming giant $4.5 million. Bowser says he’s managed to pay just $175 back so far.
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