North Carolina Man Sentenced to 18 Months for AI Music Streaming Fraud Scheme Worth $8 Million

A 54-year-old musician from North Carolina has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison after orchestrating the first major AI-assisted music streaming fraud scheme prosecuted in the United States, generating over $8 million in illegitimate royalties through a network of thousands of automated bot accounts. Michael Smith of Cornelius pleaded guilty in March 2026 and was sentenced on October 6 by U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl after a scheme that ran from 2017 to 2024 across multiple streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music.