A man convicted of laundering more than €900,000 arising from the operation of an illegal “dodgy box” television streaming subscription service has been sentenced to one year and four months in prison.
Ciaran Donovan (42), a married father of four from Ashfield, Co Kildare, appeared before Judge Martina Baxter at a sitting of Naas Circuit Court on Wednesday, having previously pleaded guilty to three charges of money laundering, arising from his selling of subscriptions linked to the King Kong Media illegal streaming service.
The judge handed down a sentence of three years and four months, suspending the final two years of the sentence. The judge gave Donvonan credit for time already spent in custody.
The court previously heard that thousands of users of the streaming service had access to copyrighted Sky Sports, BT Sports and other subscription television services. The court heard that users of the service engaged in downloading an app, before purchasing codes by means of a yearly €70 subscription to gain access to the various television services.
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Donovan pleaded guilty to a charge of money laundering last July, arising from his selling of an app linked to King Kong Media between January 2016 and March 2022.
Naas Circuit Court had heard that €470,511 passed through bank accounts linked to Donovan’s operation. The loss to Sky from the customers involved was estimated at more than €2 million.
Last month, he was sent forward to the Circuit Court for sentencing on signed guilty pleas to two further charges of money laundering, also arising from his operation of the illegal service between October 2021 and November 2023. The amount of money laundered through Donovan’s accounts, giving rise to the two further charges, was more than €430,000.
In handing down the sentence on Wednesday, the judge noted that the King Kong Media streaming service website was sophisticated, extensive and catered for consumers, and gave the impression that it was a lawful and legal business. The judge noted that the defendant was easily identified as the individual in control of the website.
The judge noted that the King Kong Media website was not a “disguised” business — the service was advertised on social media and maintained a team of sales and support staff, the court heard.
She said that, given the amount of money paid by subscribers for the service, the illegal streaming operation was clearly profitable, and that financial gain was an incentive for Donovan in the offending.
The judge said that Donovan’s continued operation of King Kong Media after the commencement of an investigation into the illegal streaming service was an aggravating factor in the case.
The court heard Donovan pleaded guilty to a charge of money laundering arising from his operation of the service in July 2023, but King Kong Media was not shut down until earlier this year when Donovan was granted bail and given an opportunity to take the service offline.
She also noted that the number of subscribers rose from about 2,500 during the first period of offending, to roughly over 5,000 subscribers during the second period of offending.
In considering mitigation, she said that it appeared that Donovan’s attitude towards his offending had evolved into a recognition that it was “serious” and not to be repeated.
In handing down the sentence, she said she was satisfied that incarceration was necessary and that the sentence required a deterrent factor.
She said the offending was in the low to mid-range of seriousness.
She noted Donovan had a “very extensive work history” in the IT industry, experience that likely helped him in the creation of the King Kong Media entity.
The court heard he was married with four children, and that he was relied upon by his family.
In respect of the offending between January 2016 and March 2022, the judge handed down a sentence of three years and four months. For the later charges, she handed down a sentence of 2½ years. She said that both sentences should be served concurrently and suspended the final two years of the jail term for 2½ years.
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