law - Two Americans might get 15 years for DVD-trade

US-citizens Randolph Guthrie and Cody Trush face each fifteen years of prison after haven been tried at a Shanghai court for trading in illegal DVD's, according to Chinese media. Both were arrested in the summer of last year, causing quite an uproar as Guthrie was a famous socialite in Shanghai.
According to an offline article in the Shanghai Daily, seen by AFP, the two had been running an operation that sold 180,000 DVD's abroad, worth more than seven million Renminbi (840,000 US dollar).
Guthrie claimed he thought his business would be legal since he operated through a Russian based website and would not need any business licenses in China. "When the business became more professional and I had more employees I thought about applying for a license, but didn't have time," Guthrie said according to the report.
Three other defendants, including two Chinese nationals, claimed they did not know the business was illegal.
The trial is still ongoing and has no been funished, AFP quotes a US consular officer as saying.