Arrest of Omi in a Hellcat
| Omi in a Hellcat | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Born | Bill Omar Carrasquillo September 6, 1986 |
| YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Subscribers | 820,000[1] |
| Total views | 65 million[1] |
Last updated: November 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 US$30,000,000[2] on charges of conspiracy, copyright infringement, fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion due to a cable television piracy scheme.[3]
Background[change | change source]
Bill Omar Carrasquillo was born on September 6, 1986. His father was Julio Carrasquillo and his mother was Soledad Diaz.[4] He was raised in North Philadelphia as one of 38 children. His mother died of a drug overdose while he was a child. His father was a drug dealer who taught him to cook crack cocaine when he was 12 years old. He grew up with his family, foster parents, and his father. He said he was sent to a mental health institution for his guardian to get to medicine to sell. He became a drug dealer as a teenager and sold drugs until he was in his 20s.[2]
After he stopped selling drugs, he started a business in 2016 with partners Jesse Gonzales from California and Michael Barone from New York which offered users content from Comcast, Verizon FiOS, DirectTV, and HBO for US$15 a month. According to federal authorities, they bought technology from China which removed restrictions from cable subscriptions, which they used to stream the content online.[5] Before being shut down in 2019, the service had 100,000 subscribers and generated US$34,000,000 in revenue.[2]
He created a YouTube channel named Omi in a Hellcat (stylized in all caps). The channel features videos displaying his jewelry,[2] his home in Swedesboro, New Jersey (which was owned by professional baseball player Jimmy Rollins),[6] and his collection of 57 automobiles.[2] His automobile collection included three Dodge Hellcats and four Lamborghinis, including a Power Rangers-themed one.[7] As of November 2023[update], the channel had 820,000 subscribers and 65 million views.
Arrest[change | change source]
Carrasquillo's home was entered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the morning of November 27, 2019, taking his cars, jewelry, and the money in his bank account.[6] He was then indicted by the FBI on September 21, 2021, on 62 criminal counts, including 19 counts of public performance of a protected work and six counts of wire fraud. Facing 514 years in federal prison, he said he was innocent.[8]
He, however, pled guilty in February 2022[9] and was sentenced to five and a half years of prison and fined US$30,000,000 on March 8, 2023[2] on charges of conspiracy, copyright infringement, fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion.[3] His cars were sold by United States Marshals at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore on October 13[10] and his jewelry was sold online, with the auction ending October 24.[11]
References[change | change source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "About OMI IN A HELLCAT". YouTube.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Madej, Patricia; Roebuck, Jeremy (March 8, 2023). "What to know about the cable piracy case against popular YouTuber 'Omi in a Hellcat'". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on October 14, 2023. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 St. Jawnson, Kershaw (March 15, 2023). "Omi In A Hell Cat Gets Five Years In Prison And Gives Up $30M In Assets To Feds". AllHipHop. Archived from the original on October 14, 2023. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
- ↑ "Bill Omar speaks on importance of authentic content for success as Youtuber". Deccan Chronicle. October 19, 2019. Archived from the original on November 10, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
- ↑ "Feds Bust NJ YouTuber In Multi-Million-Dollar TV Pirating Ring". Gloucester Daily Voice. September 23, 2021. Archived from the original on October 14, 2023. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "FBI raids millionaire YouTuber's Swedesboro home, seizes belongings". FOX 29 Philadelphia. November 28, 2019. Archived from the original on October 14, 2023. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
- ↑ Sottile, Zoe (October 8, 2023). "US Marshals to auction off multimillion dollar car collection seized from YouTuber 'Omi in a Hellcat'". CNN. Archived from the original on October 13, 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
- ↑ O'Connell, Chris (September 22, 2021). "YouTuber 'Omi in a Hellcat' speaks out after arrest in federal piracy case". FOX 29 Philadelphia. Archived from the original on October 14, 2023. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
- ↑ Roebuck, Jeremy (February 15, 2022). "Local YouTube star pleads guilty in large-scale cable piracy case". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on October 14, 2023. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
- ↑ "Convicted YouTube star's seized car collection being auctioned off at B&O Railroad Museum". WMAR 2 News Baltimore. October 13, 2023. Archived from the original on October 14, 2023. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
- ↑ "US Marshals to auction off Eagles Super Bowl ring, luxury cars seized from South Jersey YouTuber". PhillyVoice. October 10, 2023. Archived from the original on October 14, 2023. Retrieved October 14, 2023.