The last of the criminal actions in the HP case against Hardwarehouse came to a close, when the Adamson brother who had testified against his brother got a 24-month prison sentence and a $500,000 restitution fine. John Adamson cried at his sentencing, according to an account in the Sacramento Bee, asking the judge to be more lenient because one family member testified against another to help HP make its case. The brothers worked with two HP employees to defraud HP of millions of dollars in HP 3000 licensing fees, but last year the two siblings split ways when John cooperated with federal investigators and the California High Tech Crimes Task Force.

HP e3000 General Manager Winston Prather said that with US Computer founder William Conley pleading guilty to bid rigging, and the last of the criminal actions seemingly resolved, the lessons to HP customers are clear. “I think HP’s civil lawsuits against Hardwarehouse, US Computer and Abtech have established HP as a vendor with teeth,” Prather said. “We demand full compliance with licensing and legal requirements, and we have shown that we will not tolerate illegal actions that ultimately put our customers at risk.

“To that end, we have demanded – and received – substantial monetary settlements from US Computer and its president, Bill Conley, and Abtech and its president, Bob Russell. The US District Court in Sacramento has entered civil judgments against US Computer, Conley, Abtech and Russell, and it has also issued permanent injunctions prohibiting these parties from further violating HP’s legal rights. In the same US District Court, Conley recently pled guilty to intentionally defrauding HP in a scheme to rig bids on used HP equipment, including HP 3000 servers. Conley will be sentenced for that felony sometime early next year.

“Our civil lawsuit against Hardwarehouse and the Adamsons continues. However, we believe that lawsuit, too, will come to a decisive end soon in the wake of the convictions and prison sentences handed down in the related criminal case. While we take no joy from these prison sentences, we are gratified that law enforcement officers, federal prosecutors, the court and a jury all took these violations of HP’s legal rights very seriously. CSY understands the need for a used equipment market, but neither HP nor our customers can tolerate illegal activities in that space. We believe the civil judgments obtained by HP and the criminal sentences imposed by the US District Court underscore that message with unmistakable clarity. These legal actions have vindicated HP’s legal rights and, in the process, reinforced the value of the hp e3000 and MPE/iX in today’s market. This has been a real win for HP and hp e3000 customers.” Conley’s sentencing is set for January 13, 2001.