Man Sentenced for Selling Counterfeit Goods at Store in Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, KS—A Missouri man has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for selling counterfeit designer goods at a store in Kansas City, Kansas, including shoes labeled as Nike Air Force 1 and shirts labeled as Polo Ralph Lauren, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

Jehad Shalabi, 45, Blue Springs, Missouri, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit trademark goods. During his plea hearing, prosecutors told the judge that Shalabi sold counterfeit goods at a retail store called Joe Black Inc. at 3201 State Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas.

Agents of the FBI made undercover purchases at the store including a counterfeit trademark pair of Nike Air Force 1 shoes on February 22, 2011, and a counterfeit trademark Polo Ralph Lauren knit shirt on June 9, 2011. On June 30, 2011, Shalabi sold a counterfeit trademark NBA Chicago Bulls hat.

On June 28, 2011, agents served a search warrant at the store and seized approximately 588 counterfeit items with trademarks including Polo Ralph Lauren, Nike, Major League Baseball, Nervous Tattoo (Ed Hardy and Christian Audigier), Luxirie, Rocawear, and Coogi.

Investigators learned that counterfeit goods made up approximately 20 percent of the store's weekly sales of $4,000 to $6,000.

Grissom commended the FBI, ICE-HSI, and the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department for their work on the case.