Man sentenced for counterfeiting

Police seized $35,246 at the man’s home.

STAFF REPORT

WARREN — A Howland man caught participating in a counterfeiting operation involving the Rogers Flea Market in Columbiana County has been sentenced to two years’ probation and will forfeit $40,246.

Kong H. Ni, 30, who listed an address on Laurelwood Drive Southeast, received his sentence Monday from Judge Peter Kontos in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

Ni pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of trademark counterfeiting and possessing criminal tools in October after police raided his home and found about 500 items, mostly purses, wallets and sunglasses containing trademarks of designer brands such as Coach, Gucci and Chanel.

Ni told officers he was selling the items at flea markets. Authorities believe the items came from China.

Chris Becker, an assistant county prosecutor, said the $35,246 Ni forfeited is cash seized from the home by police. Ni also agreed to pay $5,000 for a vehicle police intended to seize because it was being used in the counterfeiting enterprise.

The seized merchandise is in the possession of the Howland Police Department and will be destroyed, Becker said.

The prosecutor’s office filed a civil suit in common pleas court seeking to have the cash and vehicle turned over to local law enforcement, but that suit will be withdrawn now that Ni has agreed to forfeit the money as part of his criminal case, Becker said.

Detective Ken Parson of the Monroe Police Department in southwest Ohio conducted an investigation into counterfeit merchandise at the Rogers Flea Market after finding similar illegal activity at the Trader’s World Flea Market in Monroe.

The Rogers investigation led to a raid Aug. 22, 2008, at a warehouse at 1804 N. State St., Weathersfield Township, where $15 million to $20 million in counterfeit goods were found. Parson said at that time the find was perhaps the largest counterfeit operation uncovered in the state’s history.

That investigation also led to Ni’s arrest Aug. 28, 2008, Becker said.

Parson said lease records at the warehouse suggested the building was probably used for the illegal enterprise since at least 2006.

Parson said the illegal sales were being carried out by individuals leaving New York to sell the items in Rogers on Fridays and then traveling to Monroe to sell them over the weekend.

Parson said the goods were made in China, brought into the United States through New York, and then used to supply outlets in Ohio and possibly the entire Midwest.