Popular YouTuber Omi in a Hellcat has been sentenced to more than five years in federal prison. Besides losing years behind bars, the media influencer also had to give up a lot of his personal assets— that fans have seen him floss for years.
According to Fortune, Omi In A Hellcat, whose real name is Bill Omar Carrasquillo, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, copyright infringement, fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion last year and other charges connected to what the Justice Department suggests is one of the most “brazen and successful” TV piracy schemes ever prosecuted by the government.
He and two others created technology where they could hack encrypted cable boxes and later stream or resell the copyrighted content to a different audience.
Omi in a Hellcat is said to have created a hood version of Netflix with about 100,000 subscribers before it was shut down by the DOJ in 2019.
The feds say he was generating more than $34 million in revenue a year.
The sentence of five years is coupled with the 36-year-old relinquishing nearly $6 million in cash, his luxury cars (like his Lamborghini Huracán EVO, 1996 Chevrolet Impala, and Ford Mustang), and his many properties across the Philadelphia area, including the surrounding suburbs.
In total, at the Tuesday, March 7 sentencing, the DOJ has demanded he ante up more than $30 million in assets.
U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III said, “Thirty million dollars is a lot of money [but] tangible objects aren’t everything. You have a large following and there may be people who think if you can get away with it, they can too.”
Donte Mills explained his client had a hard life and tried to access the American dream, saying, “There’s something to be said for someone who never had a chance but made one for themselves and who did everything in their power not to be that person they were expected to be.”
Omi grew up in the rough streets of North Philly in the 80s and 90s, as one of 38 children. His mother was deported when he was young and later died of an overdose. His father was a drug dealer who taught him how to make crack at 12 years old.
His dad would spend time in jail, leaving him to be raised by relatives and in the foster system until he was old enough to make a way on his own as a hustler.