Based on Gary Bowser's sentence, he'll likely have to pay Nintendo for the rest of his life. Bowser will soon be released from prison, however, he has a large sum of money to pay back to Nintendo according to the verdict.
In 2020, two members of Team Xecuter were arrested. Max Louarn and Gary Bowser were both part of a worldwide organization which sold chips that allowed users to play pirated games on their consoles. Additionally, a third member, Yuanning Chen, a Chinese national, was also charged but was never arrested while the authorities couldn't extradite Louarn, a French national, to the US. Bowser was charged with 11 felonies, including conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to circumvent technological measures, and trafficking in circumvention devices. Out of those 11 charges, Bowser plead guilty to two of them and was sentenced to 40 months in prison, as well as a $4.5 million fine, which was later increased by $10 million. At the time, Raymond Duda, FBI Special Agent in Charge Seattle, said "Imagine if something you invented was stolen from you and then marketed and sold to customers around the world."
Recently, podcaster Nick Moses sat down for an interview with Gary Bowser. During their talk, Bowser revealed that he's awaiting processing as he'll be released early for good behavior. While imprisoned, Bowser worked at the prison library and started to repay his fine to Nintendo. For now, he managed to pay $175, which was taken out in $25 monthly installments. Once he finds a new job back in his home country of Canada, Nintendo will continue to take 25% - 30% of his salary as per their agreement. Due to this fact, Bowser will likely have to continue paying Nintendo for the rest of his life.
Bowser also alleged he was not one of the leaders of the organization, but its marketing and PR manager, however, the actual leaders continue to evade the authorities. Historically, Nintendo has always dealt with hackers or copyright violations with highly aggressive measures. Those sued in the past have also included modders and influencers. Robert Lasnick, District Judge during Bowser's trial, reportedly said Nintendo intended the sentence as a message to other hackers.
Opinions may be divided within discussions about whether Gary Bowser deserved his sentence or not. Some may regard it as an overreach by Nintendo and some may deem it a fair sentence for what is essentially theft.
Source: Justice.gov