Orchard Park Resident Sentenced on Copyright Infringement and Tax Fraud Convictions

BUFFALO, NY—Christopher Boyd, 63, was sentenced today by the Honorable William M. Skretny, United States District Judge, principally to a term of imprisonment of 46 months, to be followed by three years of supervised release as a result of his conviction on charges that he committed copyright infringement and filed false tax returns. In addition, Judge Skretny ordered Boyd to pay over restitution totaling nearly $2 million to General Electric Healthcare, Inc. and Nexsys Electronics Incorporated, d/b/a Medweb, the companies which held the copyright to certain teleradiological software that Boyd sold through his business B&L Medical, located at 2795 Genesee Street, Cheektowaga, New York. As a result of the fraud, numerous medical groups throughout the United States unwittingly purchased illegal teleradiological software from B&L Medical over the last six to seven years. The software related mostly to the preservation and transmission of digital x-rays for physicians. In addition to selling unauthorized software, Boyd was also convicted of committing felony Tax Fraud, and ordered to pay an additional nearly $368,000 to the IRS in restitution. In March of this year, defendant’s wife, Robin Boyd, received a sentence of one year probation after she pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of aiding and abetting a copyright infringement.

Assistant U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, who, together with AUSAs Richard Kaufman and Martin J. Littlefield, handled the prosecution, stated that to date the government has seized and forfeited 24 different bank accounts associated with the defendant, his wife, and their business, along with several luxury vehicles including a Jaguar, two Lexus, and Acura, as well as residences in Orchard Park, West Seneca, and Clearwater, Florida, as well as a time-share in Breckenridge, Colorado. All told, the government has secured over $1.9 million in assets which will be used to provide restitution to the victims in the case.

AUSA Kennedy noted that although the violation of the copyright law involved the sale of unauthorized healthcare software, the investigation revealed no evidence to show that any of the software being utilized by the medical groups presented any medical, health or safety issue to the medical groups or their patients.

The sentencing was the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the FBI under the direction of Acting Special Agent-In-Charge Cory B. Nelson, and the IRS under the direction of IRS-CID Special Agent-In-Charge Patricia J. Haynes.

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