As news cameras recorded the event, Matcon Diamond equipment operator Dave Bioni drove a 25,000-pound backhoe back and forth over a pile of 11,000 pirated tapes and CDs today near the FBI's offices on South Side.

The event marked the end of one chapter of "Operation Cyber Sweep," a nationwide investigation of computer crimes ranging from software piracy to child pornography.

The tapes and CDs destroyed today, mostly bootlegged live concert recordings, were recovered from the Canonsburg home of Jeffery Smittle, 45, following an investigation that began in January 2002 and included undercover work and controlled buys of recordings.

"He was a significant player," said Bill Shore of the FBI's computer crime squad, noting that the illegal sales were Smittle's primary source of income. Investigators found receipts for more than $200,000 in sales during the past six to eight years but believe Smittle actually made much more from the bootlegging that was never documented.

Because of piracy and bootlegging, Shore said, "the artists are deprived of the royalties from their recordings, the products are inferior and the customers are paying more for them than they would" if they bought them from a legitimate dealer.

One year ago, Smittle pleaded guilty to selling bootlegged recordings of performances by KISS, Bob Dylan, Aerosmith and Bruce Springsteen. In July, U.S. District Judge David Cercone sentenced him to 18 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised released.

He also ordered Smittle to pay $120,000 in restitution to the recording industry.