Casco man sentenced to federal prison for telecommunications piracy By Kevin Boneske For The News-Chronicle A Casco man found guilty in federal court of telecommunications piracy has been sentenced to prison. The sentence imposed in Eastern Wisconsin's U.S. District Court against Daniel J. Herison, 36, includes 18 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release. He also will be prohibited from having a computer with Internet access while on supervised release, unless he receives permission from federal probation to do so, and must pay more than $2,700 in restitution. Herison had faced state charges in Kewaunee County Circuit Court related to the theft of satellite programming for profit, but those charges were dismissed when he was being prosecuted federally. He was arrested in January 2003 after what Sheriff John Cmeyla said was a two-year investigation conducted by the Kewaunee County Sheriff's Department and Echostar Technologies Corporation, the parent company of DISH Networks. Court records accused Herison of illegally creating so-called "smart cards," which allowed him to illegally access and decode encrypted DISH Network satellite programming. He sold the cards and equipment to others, which allowed them to illegally access satellite programming without authorization. Herison had allegedly admitted selling 10 of the cards, which were reprogrammed to receive free satellite signals and television reception. He also was accused of selling two DISH Network receivers. According to court records, Herison admitted selling merchandise all over the country. In his household, he was accused of operating three satellite receivers not obtained by DISH Networks. The items seized following the execution of a search warrant at his residence had allegedly included pornography copied on DVDs and VHS tapes, as well as evidence of sales to customers over the Internet.