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Computer store owner pleads guilty in Horry County
[January 16, 2009]

Computer store owner pleads guilty in Horry County


Jan 16, 2009 (The Sun News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
The owner of a local computer chain was sentenced to one year of probation after he pleaded guilty to six counts of computer crime violations, according to the 15th circuit solicitor's office.

Robert James Hussey, 27, of Myrtle Beach, pleaded guilty Wednesday to six counts of violating South Carolina's Computer Crime Act, Solicitor Greg Hembree said.

Hussey is the owner of Seaside Computer and Computer Inferno stores in Conway, Surfside Beach and Socastee, although the Surfside Beach location is the only one that's still open.

Circuit Court Judge Benjamin Culbertson sentenced Hussey to a year in prison, suspended after one year on probation and repayment of $5,000, Hembree said.

"At this point Mr. Hussey holds the keys to the jailhouse. If he repays the victims what he owes and operates legally and ethically he will remain free," Hembree said. "If he slips back into his old ways, he is on the road to prison."



Hussey could not be reached Thursday for comment.
The plea requires that the six victims in the crime be compensated for the losses, Hembree said, but it doesn't require Hussey to repay people who had civil claims.

"It's not a superfund where everyone gets in line. It's designated for those folks who were victims of a crime in a criminal case," Hembree said. "Most of the claims against him were civil in nature."


He said people with civil claims against Hussey can sue him and "they may get their money eventually, but I wouldn't count on it."

Hussey, who had no prior criminal record, was charged after consumers said his businesses left them without computers, laptops or parts.

Murrells Inlet resident Mark Simmons was one of those customers.
He took his laptop, which was worth $600 to $700 including all the software and upgrades he'd gotten, to Seaside Computers in August because he was having problems with it.

They told him it had a virus, and he paid $215 for them to fix it, but he never got it back, he said.

"I'm still trying to get it back," he said. "I call once a week. ... When I call the shop, they tell me [Hussey]'s not there or they don't know anything about it."

Simmons said he's considering filing a complaint with the magistrate's office, but the office told him it would cost $65. He's not sure he wants to do that because he doubts he'll get his money back either way.

"There's probably a lot of people like me who still haven't filed a complaint," he said.
The Better Business Bureau of Coastal Carolina has received 179 complaints against Seaside Computers and 95 complaints against Computer Inferno in the past 36 months.

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