Two Conneaut Residents Sentenced For Trafficking In Counterfeit Merchandise

U.S. District Judge James S. Gwin sentenced Trang Doan Hoang, 37, and Quoc-Thang Ngo Mai, 39, both of Conneaut, Ohio, in connection with their recent conviction for trafficking in counterfeit merchandise, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

Hoang was sentenced to four months in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, to be followed by two years of supervised release, the first four months of which must be served in home confinement with electronic monitoring.

Mai was sentenced to two years probation, the first six months of which must be served in home confinement with electronic monitoring. The counterfeit merchandise will be forfeited to the United States and destroyed.

On September 13, 2012, a federal grand jury in Cleveland returned an indictment charging Hoang and Mai with one count each of trafficking in counterfeit merchandise. Hoang and Mai each entered guilty pleas to the charge on November 6, 2012.

The indictment charged that between on or about December 21, 2011, and on or about February 14, 2012, Hoang and Mai intentionally trafficked and attempted to traffic in approximately 146 designer handbags, 47 designer wallets and 16 counterfeit Rolex watches which contained counterfeit marks, logos, labels, hang tags, patches, stickers, emblems, holograms and packaging. The marks on the merchandise were identical to and substantially indistinguishable from marks used on genuine merchandise, and were in use and registered for such goods on the principle register of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Also, the indictment charged that the use of such counterfeit and spurious marks was likely to cause confusion, mistake or to deceive, according to the indictment.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert W. Kern, Cybercrime Coordinator for the Cleveland U.S. Attorney’s Office, following an investigation by the Cleveland Office of the Department of Homeland Security, Office Immigration and Customs Enforcement.