Man Accused in Sale of Illegal Cable Boxes

The Los Angeles city attorney’s office filed a criminal complaint Monday against a Tarzana man accused of selling illegal cable converter boxes on the Internet.

Peter Mulder Johnston, 43, could face a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a $250,000 fine if convicted.

Arraignment is scheduled for March 11.

The city attorney’s office alleges Johnston offered the “black boxes” on the World Wide Web, using the name “The Original Cable Guy.”

Johnston is charged with one count of dealing in illegal de-scrambling devices, said Ted Goldstein, a spokesman for City Atty. Jim Hahn.

Although officials said this is the first such case prosecuted by the city attorney, the district attorney and federal authorities have previously prosecuted similar cases in Los Angeles County.

Security managers for Time Warner Communications were tipped off about Johnston’s alleged electronic messages--otherwise known as e-mail--while investigating suspected thefts related to cable service.

They turned the case over to the Los Angeles Police Department.

“He was making a lot of money,” said Bill Humphry, Time Warner security manager and a retired LAPD officer. “The bottom line was he was selling something he shouldn’t have.”

Goldstein said Johnston, via the Internet, sold assembly instructions, parts and ready-to-use cable de-scramblers.

It is estimated that cable operators lose more than $5 billion annually in signal theft.

According to a spokeswoman for the Cable Anti-Theft Task Force, the sale of information on how to make de-scramblers at home is common in cyberspace.