The 11 retailers, all but two from San Francisco, began making
appearances in federal court on Monday, the day the indictment was
unsealed. Giving cheap tourists what they want never looked so scary: Amazingly, the defendants face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine apiece for
smuggling goods into the country, and 10 years in prison and $2
million fines for each count of trafficking in counterfeit goods. That's
on top of the potential five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for conspiring to
traffic in counterfeit goods.
The whole bust began when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
officers found a container at the Port of Oakland in December 2007 with a
bunch of knockoff booty: 50,000 counterfeit designer accessories
valued at more than $22 million all headed to C & K Gifts on Taylor
Street.
ICE agents then served federal search warrants on four shops in the 400block of Beach Street and the homes of four defendants. In February,
agents served another four search warrants and five homes. All in all,
they seized, 180,000 knockoffs valued at $76 million. The stores
targeted are an alphabet soup of tourist traps: L & J Fashions and JC Trading Co.,
New CWK Gift Store, C& K Gifts, and La Bella Boutique.
According to the press release, the merchants even admitted to the
undercover officials that they were hawking knockoffs. While some fashionistas would say
they were just telling the truth, ICE director John Morton had
some fighting words for the merchants: "Trademark infringement and
intellectual property crime not only cost this country much needed jobs
and business revenues, but the illegal importation of substandard
products can also pose a serious threat to consumers' health and
safety."
Smack. The fashion police have spoken.
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