MARANA, Ariz. — An Arizona man was arrested yesterday for allegedly inserting hardcore pornography into the local broadcast of the Super Bowl in 2009, the Arizona Daily Star reported today.
Frank Tanori Gonzalez, 38, was a supervisor at Phoenix-based digital broadcasting company Cox Communications at the time of the 2009 Super Bowl. During the telecast of the game, viewers in Tucson saw 37 seconds of footage from a porn film titled “Wild Cherries 5.” Gonzalez left Cox shortly after the incident.
Local television station KVOA sent its signals of the game broadcast to Cox Communications to relay to the cable company Comcast. Officials from KVOA said the clip was not on its signal when it was sent to Cox.
Comcast turned over their investigation into the incident to the FBI last year.
Gonzalez, was arrested shortly after 5:30 p.m. yesterday at his home by Marana police and the FBI on suspicion of fraud and computer tampering.
“As we suspected, the interruption of the 2009 Super Bowl in Tucson was an intentional malicious act,” a statement from Comcast read. “We appreciate the FBI’s diligence in thoroughly investigating the programming interruption and determining what happened.”
Gonzalez had no previous criminal history in Arizona. He was in Pima County Jail late Friday.
“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 said.