Grow / It’s me, the long arm of the law. Aurich Lawson / Nintendo / Getty Images When 54-year-old Gary Bowser confessed to his involvement in aiding Team Xecuter with their pirated console line, he recognized the possibility of not being able to repay the $14.5 million owed to Nintendo in civil and criminal penalties. In a recent interview with The Guardian, Bowser revealed that he had begun paying $25 per month towards the substantial fine even after being incarcerated. Last year, Bowser was released after serving 14 months of a 40-month sentence (including 16 months of pretrial detention), across various prisons. During the same period, Bowser mentioned to The Guardian that he earned $1 per hour for four hours, counseling other inmates on suicide watch. From this income, Bowser claims to have “paid Nintendo $25 a month” while in prison. This aligns with an interview Bowser gave on the Nick Moses podcast last year, where he stated that he had already paid $175 to Nintendo at the time of his arrest. According to The Guardian, Nintendo will continue to deduct 20 to 30 percent of all Bowser’s earnings (after essential expenses such as rent) for the rest of his life. A fallen man? While individuals associated with crime often face fines instead of prison sentences, Nintendo’s legal team actively pursued Bowser’s incarceration to “send a message that there are consequences for participating in the destruction of the video game industry.” This approach seems to have been effective, considering Bowser’s perspective; he informed The Guardian that “The sentence was a message to some people that. [are] he’s still out there, so if he gets caught… [they’ll] serving a difficult time.” 
Enlarge / Bowser appears on the Nick Moses Gaming Podcast from Washington state in 2023. Nick Moses 05 Gaming Podcast / YouTube Advertisement However, Bowser claims that he was not directly involved in the development or production of Team Xecuter and only dealt with various incidental tasks, such as product testing, uploading, and downloading pages. Speaking to Ars in 2020, Aurora, the author of the Wololo Web hacking story, described Bowser as “a kind of PR” for Team Xecuter. Despite this, Bowser mentioned that settling only two lawsuits saved him time and money compared to fighting the 14 lawsuits against him in court. Bowser was apprehended in the Dominican Republic in 2020. Team Xecuter’s associate and French national Max “MAXiMiLiEN” Louarn, who was charged and arrested in Tanzania at the time of Bowser’s arrest, remained in France as of mid-2022 but has since been extradited to the US. Chinese co-defendant Yuanning Chen is still at large. “If Mr. Louarn appears before me to be judged, he could face a two-year prison sentence due to his role and participation, similar to the other individual [Chen],” stated US District Judge Robert Lasnik during Bowser’s sentencing. Returning to society During his imprisonment, Bowser revealed to The Guardian that he endured a two-week battle with COVID-19, so severe that “a priest came in once a day to read a prayer for him.” Elephantiasis has also left him unable to wear a shoe on his left foot and he now relies on a wheelchair. Now free, Bowser mentioned that he has been relying on friends and a GoFundMe page to cover rent and living essentials while seeking employment. However, his criminal record and a restriction that bars him from working with modern gaming equipment may hinder his job search. Despite these challenges, Bowser expressed to The Guardian that his current situation is better than when he was homeless in his 20s. Although the hack may bring solace to Bowser, he mentioned that he is still “looking at old Texas Instruments calculators” to pass the time.
