A Ukrainian man extradited to the United States from Thailand on software piracy charges has been sentenced to 35 months in prison, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Tuesday.

Maksym Vysochansky, 28, was arrested in Thailand in 2003 on charges of selling pirated software of Adobe Systems, Microsoft, Autodesk and other firms through Internet sites such as eBay.

He was arrested after U.S. officials monitoring his e-mail traffic learnt he would travel from Ukraine to Thailand, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California said in a statement.

Vysochansky, also known as Maksym Kovalchuk, was extradited to the United States in 2004 and pleaded guilty to the charges last November. He was sentenced on Monday.

Software piracy is widespread in many parts of the former Soviet Union. Prosecutors in Northern California, which is home to some of the world’s best-known software companies including Adobe, have launched several high-profile anti-piracy cases.

The U.S. Attorney’s office listed his name as Vysochanskyy, although it is commonly transliterated as Vysochansky.

Posted: 05|10|06 at 8:53 am. Filed under: US News.