The leader of a group that trafficked in pirated Android mobile device applications has pleaded guilty over his role in the scheme, the first prosecution of a counterfeit apps case by the U.S. Department of Justice, the agency said on Monday. Nicholas Narbone, 26, of Orlando, Florida, pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of conspiring to commit criminal copyright infringement in connection with his activity on behalf of the Appbucket Group, the agency said. Co-conspirator Thomas Dye, 21, of Jacksonville, Florida, pleaded guilty to the same charge on March 10, over a scheme involving bogus apps worth more than $700,000, the agency said. "These men trampled on the intellectual property rights of others when they and other members of the Appbucket Group distributed more than one million copies of pirated apps," David O'Neil, acting assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's criminal division, said in a statement.



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