The FBI and Marana police arrested a man they suspect inserted 37 seconds of X-rated pornography into the local telecast of the 2009 Super Bowl.
Frank Tanori Gonzalez of Marana was arrested shortly after 5:30 p.m. Friday on suspicion of fraud and computer tampering, according to a news release from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.
“These charges related to the 37-second X-rated pornography interruption of Comcast’s Tucson 2009 Super Bowl broadcast and as a result of the alleged tampering to its servers, Comcast suffered significant economic losses,” Attorney General Tom Horne said in announcing the arrest.
Two years ago, Tucson received a great deal of national attention when someone cut into the local telecast of the game to air a clip from “Wild Cherries 5” showing a woman unzipping a man’s pants, followed by a graphic sex act between the two.
The Super Bowl — which featured the Arizona Cardinals losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers, was shown locally on KVOA. The station sent its signal to Comcast through a fiber line and officials said KVOA's signal didn't have porn on it when the station sent it over to Comcast.
Comcast ended up offering a $10 credit to all of its 80,000 subscribers, whether they witnessed the scene or not.
Last year, officials with Comcast said they had strengthened their security system and turned over the investigation to the FBI.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Nathan T. Gray said, “The FBI and our law enforcement partners are committed to investigating individuals who breach their administrative responsibilities by committing fraud and computer tampering.”
Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com
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