Guns N' Roses Leaker Gets Off Easy

Canada

Guns N' Roses Leaker Gets Off Easy

Wed., Jul. 15, 2009 4:55 AM PDT by Josh Grossberg

Courtesy: George Chin

His appetite for Chinese Democracy is going to cost this blogger his freedom, but the worst that will happen is he'll get to stay in and play Guns N' Roses' on Guitar Hero for a couple of months.

Kevin Cogill, the Los Angeles man who was busted last August for posting online nine unreleased tunes from the Gunners' heavily anticipated, yet eternally delayed new album was sentenced Tuesday to 60 days of home confinement.

Talk about your paradise city!

As part of a plea agreement cut with federal prosecutors the 28-year-old Cogill also received a year or probation and will get to star in his very own anti-piracy public service announcement as well.

"I never intended to hurt the artist," the repentant Netizen told the judge Tuesday regarding the leak. "I intended to promote the artist because I'm a fan."

Cogill ended up pleading guilty to one misdemeanor count of violating federal copyright law, a crime punishable by up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine. However that's a far cry from the five- year term he could've gotten had he not played ball with the feds, who agreed to downgrade the charge from a felony.

In any case, Cogill's file-sharing ways haven't seemed to hinder Guns N' Roses' sales, not to mention singer and sole remaining original member Axl Rose's over-inflated ego. Chinese Democracy has so far sold an estimated 2.6 million copies since its November release and been certified platinum.