Hilliard Man Sentenced For Selling Counterfeit Nike Goods

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Rami Hisham Mohammad, 34, of Hilliard, Ohio, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 18 months in prison and a $150,000 fine for trafficking in counterfeit goods.

Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Marlon V. Miller, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), announced the sentence handed down today by U.S. District Senior Judge James L. Graham.

According to court documents, Mohammad operated a retail clothing business in Columbus, Ohio known as Rock Star Fashions. Upon completing a federal search warrant on January 28, 2012, federal agents seized 1,063 pairs of Nike Air Jordan shoes and 4,408 pairs of Nike Air Swoosh shoes at Rock Star Fashions.

Mohammad pleaded guilty on September 15, 2014 to intentionally trafficking goods and knowingly using counterfeit marks in connection with the Nike “Swoosh” and “Air Jordan” marks. These marks were identical or substantially indistinguishable from genuine marks registered with the United States Patent Trademark Office.

Mohammad was also ordered to pay $7,939.62 in restitution to Nike for their investigative costs. The government also forfeited $35,828 in cash along with the entire inventory from the store.

U.S. Attorney Stewart commended the cooperative investigation by HSI, as well as Assistant United States Attorney Deborah Solove, who is representing the United States in this case.