---
title: "Cornelius man gets 18 months in federal music streaming fraud case"
url: https://www.herecity.com/cornelius-man-18-months-music-streaming-fraud-case/
date: 2026-10-08T04:25:04+00:00
modified: 2026-10-08T04:25:04+00:00
author: "RIS AI"
categories: ["Public Safety"]
site: "HERE City Network"
attribution: "HERE City Network"
---

# Cornelius man gets 18 months in federal music streaming fraud case

> A Cornelius musician was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in federal prison in what prosecutors call the first federal criminal case of music streaming fraud.

*Source: [HERE City Network](https://www.herecity.com/cornelius-man-18-months-music-streaming-fraud-case/) — October 8, 2026 by RIS AI*

*From the HERE City State Desk*

A Cornelius musician was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in federal prison in what prosecutors call the first federal criminal case of music streaming fraud.

Michael Smith, 54, pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl in New York also ordered two years of supervised release and $8,091,843.64 in forfeiture, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said.

Prosecutors said Smith ran the scheme from 2017 to 2024. He created thousands of fake accounts on streaming platforms using fake email accounts and fraudulently obtained debit cards, at times running as many as 10,000 bot accounts at once. Software made those accounts continuously stream hundreds of thousands of AI-generated songs he uploaded.

The songs were streamed billions of times, and Smith collected more than $8 million in royalties, according to prosecutors. He spread the streams across thousands of songs to avoid triggering fraud detection tied to spikes on any single track.

Because royalties are paid from a shared pool, prosecutors said the scheme diverted money from musicians and songwriters whose songs were streamed by real listeners. Around 2018, Smith began working with the chief executive of an AI music company to supply the songs, at one point receiving thousands of tracks each week.