Federal authorities have arrested an Arizona man on suspicion of fraud and computer tampering for allegedly interrupting the live broadcast of Super Bowl XLIII in 2009 with a clip from an adult film.
Frank Tanori Gonzalez, 38, of Marana, was arrested at roughly 5:30 p.m. Feb. 4, according to reports. He stands accused of taking over the broadcast of the game to air 37 seconds of a sex scene from an adult film. At the time, Gonzalez was an employee of Cox Communications, and was terminated shortly after the incident, according to reports.
“The FBI and our law enforcement partners are committed to investigating individuals who breach their administrative responsibilities by committing fraud and computer tampering,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Nathan T. Gray told the Arizona Star.
In a statement issued to the media Friday, Comcast called the interruption of the 2009 game an “intentional, malicious act.”
“We appreciate the FBI’s diligence in thoroughly investigating the programming interruption and determining what happened,” the company said.
The company did not reveal how the Comcast signal was accessed by Gonzalez, according to reports.
That year’s Super Bowl, in which the Arizona Cardinals lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, was shown locally on KVOA. The station reportedly sent its signals – both standard definition and high definition – to Cox Communications, which passed them onto Comcast. Those watching the standard-definition feed of the game on KVOA saw the clip.
KVOA officials have said the station’s signal didn’t have porn on it when the station sent it over to Comcast.