Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, announced today that a federal grand jury in Cleveland, Ohio, returned an indictment charging Trang Doan Hoang, age 37, and Quoc-Thang Ngo Mai, age 39, both of Conneaut, Ohio, with trafficking in counterfeit merchandise.

The indictment charges 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. The indictment alleges that the use of such counterfeit and spurious marks was likely to cause confusion, mistake or to deceive.

If convicted, each defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation.

This case is being 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.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

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