After raids in November 2019 that shuttered his Gears-branded IPTV services, Bill Omar Carrasquillo (Omi in a Hellcat) is inching closer to discovering his fate at the hands of the federal government.
As previously reported, IRS and FBI agents seized "at least" $5.2m from his bank accounts along with a laundry list of supercars and other vehicles, alleged to have been purchased with ill-gotten gains.
At the time of writing, a civil process to officially take possession of Carrasquillo's seized assets is underway but he is yet to be officially indicted. When that will happen remains unclear but Carrasquillo is now shining more light on the process.
Discussions Underway With US Government
In a series of new interviews with YouTube channel 'Say Cheese!", Carrasquillo talks openly about matters that aren't usually for public consumption, including the basics of discussions with the government that may lead to some kind of deal.
"My lawyers went in but God willing, everything turns out good and positive. If it got to be a quick in-and-out [of prison] hopefully I can continue. Because at the end of the day, to me it's more about the restitution I owe," Carrasquillo says.
"There's gonna be a lot of money. Me sitting in there for too long it's going to cancel out their restitution I gotta pay back. More important to me is paying back their restitution. It's gonna be eight figures of course. Over eight – pushing nine."
Big Money, Long Time in Prison
While Carrasquillo seems keen to pay what he owes, the starting point for the discussions appears to have centered around a proposal for an extremely long time in prison – wowards two decades in fact.
"They went through the whole thing it was like 210 months [in prison]. And my lawyer is like, man, it doesn't make any sense. If you look at anybody who's been through the same type of situation that I've been through – it is not scamming, it was more of a copyright infringement case that turned into 'Oh shit, you didn't pay your taxes' – you know, tax evasion. But now they're just trying to bend it – it's a long story," he says.
"I said, if we can get that shit all the way down, to where I can pay them and work it out somehow on the back end, I'll do that but I can't take [210 months in prison]. Listen, if we can get down to that number, I'll take it gladly."
According to the interviewer, that number is two years in prison, something confirmed by Carrasquillo. But that would be accompanied by another problem – the feds taking everything.
The Feds Want to Keep Everything
"Everything. Like all the cars. The money. Things that they already seized. It is what it is, I've been living without it already," Carrasquillo says with a shrug.
"But at the end of the day, I feel that I'm taking it just to get it over with. But I have no problem fighting this shit at trial because I know for a fact that nothing I did was illegal."
Time and again, Carrasquillo has insisted he committed no crimes, although he has previously admitted that not paying his taxes was a mistake. After the money started rolling in, he says he took the time to consult a lawyer who assured him that he was not breaking the law.
"[The attorney] is going to come and testify later on in court but it feels like damn, he should've had my back a bit more because I did confide in counsel. I was ready to give it up because i'd seen people starting to get in trouble in that field but what they were doing was movies," he says.
"I had a little app that did movies that was 100% free, I never profited off it. And when I see that people were getting cracked I turned it off immediately saying, 'I don't want no problems'. So when I went to the lawyer he said you're not doing anything illegal so two years later when they come knocking on my door. I didn't even see these people following me. I had no hints whatsoever. These m***** f****** are good."
Chances of Winning at Trial – 50/50
While Carrasquillo says that he's prepared to go to trial if necessary, he rates his chances of winning at no more than 50/50. He believes that the accusations of criminal copyright infringement are false, which means that the money-laundering accusations are on thin ice too. He does, however, acknowledge issues with his taxes.
"There's an argument either side, I feel like this is a coin toss, [a trial] can go either way. I feel that what I did wasn't against the law, honestly, but at the end of the day my kids…I just want to get this shit over with, come back, pay my debt to society. It is what it is."
At the moment Omi has one lawyer working on his case but he wants to hire entire firms. He says that people who've looked at the case are strongly advising him to take the trial but for his kids' sake, he really wants to get it over with so he can move on. However, he won't be seeking the benefits of a 5K motion.
This type of motion is filed by a prosecutor under §5K1.1 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines indicating via letter to the court that the defendant has cooperated. Carrasquillo says he wants no part in that.
"What I did was what I did. It got nothing to do with other people," he says. "The investigation kept going and going until I left the window open for taxes. I left a couple of things open for them. We're quick to blame them, 'Oh f*** the feds' but in reality, we f*** ourselves over."
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
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