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SACRAMENTO, Calif. —Xavier L. Johnson, 36, formerly of Elk Grove, and Kristin M. Caldwell, 35, of Elk Grove, pleaded guilty today to trafficking in counterfeit goods, United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, between April 2008 and August 2011, the defendants imported counterfeit DVDs containing children’s movies from manufacturers in China and sold them over the internet. During that time period, they ordered at least 43,589 counterfeit DVDs from a supplier in China. According to court documents, when advertising the movies on their websites and in marketing emails, the defendants made false representations to consumers, including that the DVDs were in “limited supply” or “currently out of print” when in fact the defendants had a virtually limitless supply of counterfeit DVDs. The activity charged in the indictment occurred after the defendants had received multiple letters from government agencies telling them that shipments of DVDs were being seized at the border because they were counterfeit.
This case is the product of an investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Matthew G. Morris is prosecuting the case.
Johnson and Caldwell are scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. on August 4, 2017. Both defendants face a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.