BOSTON-U.S. Attorney Donald K. Stern announced that Germaine Matos of the Dominican Republic was sentenced Feb. 3, by U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, to two years in prison for his part in a large cellular cloning conspiracy.
Matos, who used a Boston electronics business as a front for the cloning operation between 1991 and 1993, was also ordered to pay Cellular One $3,500 in restitution. The court also imposed on Matos a three-year period of supervision after his release from prison and a $500 special assessment.
Matos fled the United States following the arrest of his co-defendants in March 1993, but was apprehended by U.S. Customs agents in May 1997 while trying to re-enter the country through Miami.
Authorities believe that thousands of cellular phones were cloned resulting in losses to Cellular One of more than $770,000, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
