Arrest of Omi in a Hellcat explained
Omi in a Hellcat |
Birth Name: | Bill Omar Carrasquillo |
Birth Date: | 6 September 1986 |
Channel Direct Url: | @omiinahellcat |
Channel Display Name: | OMI IN A HELLCAT |
Subscribers: | 819,000 |
Views: | 65 million |
Silver Year: | 2019[1] |
Stats Update: | December 2023 |
Bill Omar Carrasquillo (born September 6, 1986), known professionally as Omi in a Hellcat (stylized in all caps), is an American YouTuber who was sentenced to five and a half years of prison and fined [2] on charges of conspiracy, copyright infringement, fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion over a cable television piracy scheme.[3]
Background
Bill Omar Carrasquillo was born to Julio Carrasquillo and Soledad Diaz on September 6, 1986.[4] He was raised in North Philadelphia. His mother, Soledad, died of a drug overdose while he was a child. His father, Julio, was a drug dealer who taught him to cook crack cocaine at the age of 12. He went between the care of relatives, foster parents, and his father. He said he was once sent to a mental health institution for his guardian to gain access to prescription narcotics to sell. He became a drug dealer as a teenager and continued selling drugs until his late 20s.[2]
After he gave up drug dealing, he started a business in 2016 with partners Jesse Gonzales from California and Michael Barone from New York which offered subscribers content from Comcast, Verizon FiOS, DirectTV, and HBO for as low as a month. According to federal authorities, they bought encoders from China which removed copyright protections from legitimate cable subscriptions, then used these to stream the content online.[5] Before being shut down in 2019, the service had 100,000 subscribers and generated in revenue.[2]
He created a YouTube channel named Omi in a Hellcat (stylized in all caps). The channel features videos showing off his jewelry,[2] his home in Swedesboro, New Jersey (which was formerly owned by professional baseball player Jimmy Rollins),[6] and his collection of 57 automobiles.[2] His collection included three Dodge Hellcats and four Lamborghinis, including a Power Rangers-themed one.[7], the channel had 819,000 subscribers and 65 million views.
Arrest
Carrasquillo's home was raided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the morning of November 27, 2019, seizing his cars, jewelry, computers, SD cards, televisions and the money in his bank account.[6] He was then indicted by the FBI on September 21, 2021, on 62 counts, including 19 counts of public performance of a protected work and six counts of wire fraud. Facing 514 years in federal prison, he initially maintained his innocence:He pled guilty in February 2022[8] and was sentenced to five and a half years of prison and fined on March 8, 2023[2] on charges of conspiracy, copyright infringement, fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion. His cars were auctioned off by United States Marshals at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore on October 13[9] and his jewelry auctioned online, with the auction ending October 24.[10]
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: June 12, 2019 . RIDING BIKES IN ORLANDO TO CELEBRATE 100,000 SUBSCRIBERS . October 13, 2023 . YouTube . November 10, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231110152052/https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=Lf2OXaNbWWvzdSsn&v=k26Q3UlUhY8 . dead .
- Web site: Madej . Patricia . Roebuck . Jeremy . March 8, 2023 . What to know about the cable piracy case against popular YouTuber 'Omi in a Hellcat' . October 13, 2023 . . en . October 14, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231014011705/https://www.inquirer.com/news/omi-in-a-hellcat-case-jail-sentence-20230308.html . live .
- Web site: St. Jawnson . Kershaw . March 15, 2023 . Omi In A Hell Cat Gets Five Years In Prison And Gives Up $30M In Assets To Feds . October 13, 2023 . . en-US . October 14, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231014011706/https://allhiphop.com/news/omi-in-a-hell-cat-gets-five-years-in-prison-and-gives-up-30m-in-assets-to-feds/ . live .
- News: Bill Omar speaks on importance of authentic content for success as Youtuber . November 10, 2023 . . October 19, 2019 . November 10, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231110012736/https://www.deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/television/191019/bill-omar-speaks-on-importance-of-authentic-content-for-success-as-yo.html . live .
- Web site: DeMarco . Jerry . September 23, 2021 . Feds Bust NJ YouTuber In Multi-Million-Dollar TV Pirating Ring . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231014011705/https://dailyvoice.com/new-jersey/gloucester/news/feds-bust-nj-youtuber-in-multi-million-dollar-tv-pirating-ring/816890/ . October 14, 2023 . October 14, 2023 . Gloucester Daily Voice . en.
- Web site: November 28, 2019 . FBI raids millionaire YouTuber's Swedesboro home, seizes belongings . October 14, 2023 . FOX 29 Philadelphia . en-US . October 14, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231014011705/https://www.fox29.com/news/fbi-raids-millionaire-youtubers-swedesboro-home-seizes-belongings . live .
- Web site: Sottile . Zoe . October 8, 2023 . US Marshals to auction off multimillion dollar car collection seized from YouTuber 'Omi in a Hellcat' . October 20, 2023 . . en . October 13, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231013220633/https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/08/us/omi-in-a-hellcat-car-auction-trnd/index.html . live .
- Web site: Roebuck . Jeremy . February 15, 2022 . Local YouTube star pleads guilty in large-scale cable piracy case . October 14, 2023 . . en . October 14, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231014134542/https://www.inquirer.com/news/omi-in-a-hellcat-pleads-guilty-bill-omar-carrasquillo-prison-gears-tv-reloaded-iptv-20220215.html . live .
- Web site: October 13, 2023 . Convicted YouTube star's seized car collection being auctioned off at B&O Railroad Museum . October 14, 2023 . WMAR 2 News Baltimore . en . October 14, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231014011705/https://www.wmar2news.com/local/convicted-youtube-stars-seized-car-collection-being-auctioned-off-at-b-o-railroad-museum . live .
- Web site: October 10, 2023 . US Marshals to auction off Eagles Super Bowl ring, luxury cars seized from South Jersey YouTuber . October 14, 2023 . PhillyVoice . english . October 14, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231014011705/https://www.phillyvoice.com/eagles-super-bowl-ring-auction-omi-in-a-hellcat-youtuber-cars-jewelry/ . live .