A Montreal man has pleaded guilty to pirating movies by filming them inside a movie theatre but Louis-Rene Hache will likely avoid jail time.
A judge will likely accept a joint Crown-defence suggestion for 120 hours of community work for Hache, who was caught by security guards as he was filming a movie with a video camera at Cinemas Guzzo Lacordaire.
Lawyers will not demand a fine because Hache is broke, but he's been barred from entering movies theatres for two years.
The defence says Hache did not pirate the films for cash, but just for kicks.
However the Crown and the RCMP contend that Hache did intend to profit by uploading the pirated films to the internet.
Guzzo claims losses
When Hache was arrested two years ago, major studios and distributors said that at least 25 pirated movies circulating on the internet could be traced back to the movies that had been pirated at Cinemas Guzzo.
The chain says 20th Century Fox subsequently withheld two movies that were supposed to be shown at Guzzo, costing the company $250,000.
