Operator Of Local Flea Market Sentenced On Federal Intellectual Property Charges

St. Louis, MO – JACK FRISON, SR. was sentenced to twenty-four months of imprisonment on multiple charges relating to his involvement in the sale of counterfeit goods and DVDs.

According to testimony presented at trial in June, for more than two decades, Frison owned and operated the Frison Flea Market in Pagedale, MO.  Vendors paid Frison a rental fee to rent and operate sales booths at his Flea Market.  For more than ten years, many of Frison’s vendors openly sold counterfeit goods from their booths at the Market.  The counterfeit goods included clothing, footwear, purses, accessories, movie DVDs and music CDs.  Some of the vendors sold counterfeit purses and similar luxury items bearing marks owned by Coach, Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana and others. Frison knew that the goods were counterfeit and allowed vendors to continue selling such goods.  Rather than removing vendors selling illegal goods, Frison fined them instead, adding to his income.

Frison, of Frontenac, MO, was convicted of one felony count of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods, one felony count of aiding and abetting felony copyright infringement and one felony count of aiding and abetting trafficking counterfeit goods.  He appeared today for sentencing before United States District Judge Rodney W. Sippel.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the St. Louis County Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorneys John Bodenhausen and Jennifer Roy handled the case for the U.S. Attorney?s Office.