A federal jury in Tampa has convicted Heidi Richards, 52, of Brandon, for conspiring to traffic in illicit Microsoft certificate of authenticity (COA) labels. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe. Richards could face up to five years in prison, with sentencing set for February 26, 2026.
Evidence presented during the trial showed that Richards operated under the business name Trinity Software Distribution. She purchased thousands of genuine Microsoft COA labels from co-conspirators at prices well below the retail cost of the corresponding software. According to court documents, Richards and her employees extracted product key codes from these labels and sold them in bulk to customers. Federal law prohibits selling standalone COA labels separately from the software they are meant to verify.
COA labels are used to confirm that Microsoft software is genuine and contain security features designed to prevent counterfeiting. There is a black market for these labels because they include product key codes necessary for activating Microsoft software. These labels are not intended for sale apart from their accompanying license and hardware and have no independent commercial value.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations Kansas City Field Office. Prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Risha Asokan of the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Jared Hosid from the Justice Department’s Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS).
The CCIPS works on cybercrime cases alongside both domestic and international law enforcement agencies, often collaborating with private sector partners. Since 2020, CCIPS has achieved convictions against more than 180 cybercriminals and obtained court orders returning over $350 million to victims.
