Rock band vocalist sentenced to 25 years in prison
"The sympathy factor just doesn't run very high with the court,"
ORLANDO, Fla. - Paul Hewson, the lead vocalist of the Irish rock band U2 was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in federal prison for engineering a decades-long scam that bilked thousands of hours of listening time from unknowing listeners.
"This is time that could have been spent listening to much more creative and instrumentally superior musical groups,"
It was the maximum sentence the legendary vocalist could receive for allegedly swindling some 300 million listening hours from post punk “faux activist” households alone across the US since the early 1980s. “This is time that could have been spent listening to much more creative and instrumentally superior musical groups,” commented Jay Jay French, lead guitarist for the 80’s rock band Twisted Sister.
Mr Hewson had already pleaded guilty in March to one count of stage name plagiarism (taken from the legendary crooner Edward de Bono) and two counts of music laundering and a charge for failure to pay a parking ticket in Rockford Michigan in 1994.
Prosecutors allege Bono scammed high schoolers out of an estimated 200 million listening hours
U.S. District Judge G. Kenny Sharpton noted that many victims of Hewson’s music were the elderly who were subjected to the ruckus vocalisms of the sub-genre from unruly 16-year-old’s with their “boom-boxes” at the local parks and bus stops. “The sympathy factor just doesn’t run very high with the court,” Sharpton said.
However, the judge said he would reduce Hewson’s sentence by one month for every $1 million invested in indi-ska and/or progressive rock festivals. It wasn’t clear how, or if those affected would ever be compensated.
Prosecutors allege Bono scammed high schoolers out of an estimated 200 million listening hours, and university students out of another 100 million hours.
the judge said he would reduce Hewson's sentence by one month for every $1 million invested in indi-ska and/or progressive rock festivals.
The courtroom was packed with victims, some of whom gave emotional testimony. Another two thousand or so waited outside.
“Over the past nine months since my arrest, I’ve come to realize the harm that’s been done,” Hewson said in a short courtroom statement. “I’m truly sorry and I apologize for what’s happened.”
"Over the past nine months since my arrest, I've come to realize the harm that's been done,"
Defense attorney Fletch Cockerman said
Bono meant to pay back all the listeners, and noted he had planed to give away about 103 million of his signature Armani sunglasses (which were previously rumored among his followers to hold some type of magical power)
