5 years in prison! Seller convicted of selling counterfeit goods on eBay

Recently, a U.S. federal court sentenced Mr. and Mrs. Rogers from Columbia, Missouri to prison for selling counterfeit Disney DVDs on eBay .

According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, in July 2014, the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) received information that a couple named Rogers had received more than 443 shipments of counterfeit DVDs from a supplier in Hong Kong. HSI agents identified two shipments that were seized before being shipped to the Rogers' home in Colombia, one of which contained 200 counterfeit "Beauty and the Beast" DVDs; the other contained 260 counterfeit "Aladdin" DVDs.

On February 4, 2015, CBP agents seized another package addressed to the Rogers, which contained 200 counterfeit Disney DVDs. In February and March of that year, undercover agents purchased several counterfeit Disney DVDs from the Rogers on eBay. The Rogers claimed that the DVDs were genuine Disney products, but in fact they knew that the products were counterfeit. During the investigation, agents contacted two people who assisted the Rogers in selling counterfeit DVDs on eBay. They said they had received a large number of customer complaints, including problems such as DVDs not working properly.

In 2015, agents searched the Rogers' home and found a variety of counterfeit merchandise, including many fake Disney DVDs. Tabitha Rogers admitted that she was in charge of the day-to-day operations of the company. She communicated with suppliers in Hong Kong via email and placed orders for the DVDs. She also packaged the DVDs to send to customers and handled customer complaints.

Ultimately, Tabitha pleaded guilty to a felony count of copyright infringement for profit. Under federal law, she will be sentenced to up to five years in prison without parole. Clint pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of copyright infringement, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison, also without parole.

eBay

Counterfeit products