QUEENS—A Long Island City man has been charged with forgery and other charges for allegedly selling cloned wireless modems that he had advertised on the website Craigslist as being compatible with Time Warner Cable and other Internet providers that would allow purchasers to access the Internet without paying a monthly fee.
According to district attorney Richard A. Brown, by using one of these devices an individual could unlawfully receive free cable Internet service without the permission of the Internet service provider.
Andres Saldarriaga, 22, of1-20 Astoria Boulevard in Long Island City was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on a complaint charging him with second-degree forgery, second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, criminal possession of forgery devices and theft of services. The defendant, who faces up to seven years in prison if convicted, was released without bail and ordered to return to court on Sept. 25.
Brown said between March 24, 2011 and Aug. 20, 2012, Saldarriaga allegedly placed an advertisement on the website Craigslist and offered for sale cable modems that would provide unlimited Internet access without monthly fees. The modems were advertised as compatible with Time Warner Cable, Comcast, RCN, and Optimum Online.
It is alleged that between March 24, 2011, and March 27, 2012, an investigator working for Time Warner Cable responded to the ad by calling the telephone number listed and arranged to meet the defendant in Queens, and that on March 25, 2011, the defendant allegedly sold a cloned modem to the investigator for $150. A year later, on March 27, 2012, in Queens, the defendant allegedly sold the investigator another cloned modem for $175.
It is further alleged that on two separate occasions between May 24, 2012 and Aug. 20, 2012, two additional modems were purchased from Saldarriaga by a detective assigned to the District Attorney’s Detective Bureau for a total of $400.
At the time of his arrest on Aug.20, seven additional modems were observed in the defendant’s car, Brown said. A search warrant was subsequently executed at his apartment where 19 additional modems were recovered, along with a laptop computer and other items that were allegedly used to make the cloned modems operational. 8-23-12
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