Lakeland DVD Counterfeiter Sentenced

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew today sentenced John C. Gaglione, Jr. (49, Lakeland) to 33 months in federal prison for trafficking in counterfeit labels. As part of his sentence, the court entered a money judgment in the amount of $365,000, the proceeds of the charged criminal conduct.  Gaglione was also ordered to pay $180,000 in restitution. He pleaded guilty on October 24, 2013.

Gaglione is the last of eight individuals sentenced for his involvement in a global counterfeit motion picture DVD investigation that began in Lakeland, and extended to the People's Republic of China.

According to court documents, in late 2010, Gaglione and co-conspirators began making bulk purchases of counterfeit motion picture DVDs.  They purchased the counterfeit DVDs from Jian Huang a/k/a "China Glen," a supplier based in the People’s Republic of China, and his company called "TM Wholesale."  Huang was apprehended in April 2012.

After Huang’s apprehension, Gaglione developed and acquired counterfeit DVDs from other sources of supply.  After acquiring the counterfeit DVDs, Gaglione sold them to customers in the United States.  He sold them online via Ebay, at a family run sports card store called Lakeland Sports and Collectibles, and from a flea market booth in Auburndale.

On August 10, 2012, Jian Huang pleaded guilty to conspiracy and trafficking in counterfeit goods. He was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison on November 2, 2012.  The court also ordered Huang to pay restitution to the Motion Picture Association of America (AMPAA@) in the amount of $1,214,333.12.  The MPAA is a trade association that represents certain motion picture, home video and television industry companies, including Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.; Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.; Paramount Pictures Corp.; Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; and Universal Studios.

Co-conspirators Alex Lee Lim, Robert Edmond Mattie, James William Ray, Donald Kenneth Brown, Jr., Martin William Grenfell, and Christopher Alexander T. Clark each pleaded guilty to trafficking in counterfeit labels.  On November 15, 2012, Lim was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison, and was ordered to pay restitution to the MPAA in the amount of $280,752.67.  On November 30, 2012, Ray was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison, and was ordered to pay $261,541.28 in restitution to the MPAA.  Ray was also ordered to forfeit $100,005 in cash seized at the time of his arrest.  On December 6, 2012, Mattie was sentenced to probation for a term of 5 years, with the first 12 months to be served on home detention.  On February 22, 2013, Grenfell was sentenced to 3 years' probation and Brown was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution to the MPAA.  Clark was sentenced on May 16, 2013, to 36 months’ probation and ordered to pay $6,000 in restitution to the MPAA.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Lakeland Police Department.  It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark E. Bini.