Florida Residents and Corporations Plead Guilty to Charges of Smuggling Hazardous Children’s Products, Including Toys Containing Lead and Small Parts, From China
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Alysa D. Erichs, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and Vernon Foret, Director of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Miami Field Office, announced that defendants Hung Lam, 55, and Isabella Kit Yeung, 37, both of Miami-Dade County, and Florida corporations LM Import-Export, Inc. (LM), Lam’s Investment Corp. (LIC), and LK Toys Corporation, (LK) pled guilty today to charges regarding the smuggling of hazardous children’s products from China. Sentencing has been scheduled before U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams for July 26, 2012 at 1:15 p.m.
More specifically, defendant Hung Lam pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to traffic and smuggle children’s products, including toys, containing banned hazardous substances, such as lead and small parts, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, and one count of trafficking in counterfeit goods, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2320. Co-defendant Isabella Kit Yeung pled guilty to one misdemeanor count of submitting a false label country of origin, in violation of 19 U.S.C. §1304(a).
According to the documents filed with the court and statements made during the plea hearing, from approximately April 2000 through May 2011, defendants Lam, LM, LIC, and LK conspired to sell and distribute in commerce children’s products imported from China in violation of the Consumer Product Safety Act and the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. These products allegedly presented the risk of choking, aspiration, and ingestion, and some contained lead above the allowed statutory limits. The defendants imported these products by means of false statements on custom declaration forms. Yeung was charged with the misdemeanor count of importing goods without the required country of origin labeling.
As part of the plea, defendants Lam, LM, LIC, LK, and Yeung agreed to the forfeiture of property imported by defendants and seized by the United States on dates specified therein, as well as the LM Warehouse.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI, CPSC, and CBP. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Norman O. Hemming, III and Daren Grove.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
