WASHINGTON-Clinton Watson, the alleged inventor of a software program that created the counterfeit “lifetime” phone, was convicted on three counts of cellular telephone fraud by a U.S. District Court trial jury in San Jose, Calif.
The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association called the conviction “a significant victory in the battle against wireless phone fraud.” Watson is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 17, 1996.
CTIA said Watson was found guilty of possessing altered or cloned cellular telephones and possessing telephone numbers of cellular customers without permission; producing, using and trafficking cloned cellular telephones; and possessing the equipment to produce fraudulent cellular phones.
According to reports, when Watson was apprehended he was in possession of approximately 600 unauthorized cellular numbers and had been involved in or connected with the sale of more than 1,000 cloned cellular telephones or programming chips.
CTIA alleged his total cloning activities have cost the wireless telephone industry an estimated $2 million in losses.
