TOLEDO, Ohio — A Toledo man will spend over a year in prison for trafficking counterfeit goods for nearly a decade, despite numerous parcel seizures and cease-and-desist letters.
Shane Burdue, 46, of Toledo, was sentenced to 14 months in prison for trafficking in counterfeit goods, the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Ohio announced in a press release Tuesday.
Between July 2014 and May 2023, over 800 international shipments were sent to various Toledo addresses associated with Burdue. Most of the shipments originated in China and several contained counterfeit goods, according to court documents.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized several of the shipments with counterfeit goods. Burdue received several cease-and-desist letters from the Coalition to Advance Protection of Sports Logos (CAPS) which coordinates trademark protection and enforcement for collegiate and national sports teams.
Although several shipments were seized and he received the cease-and-desist letters, Burdue continued selling the counterfeit merchandise. The merchandise was sold at physical locations in Toledo and online through Facebook, the Department of Justice said. The DOJ did not specify which physical stores sold the counterfeit merchandise.
Several of Burdue's Facebook accounts were deactivated for dealing in counterfeit goods, but Burdue continued to make new accounts to continue selling the products.
In May 2023, authorities executed a search warrant in Toledo and seized hundreds of items of counterfeit sports merchandise from Burdue's business, "Shane's Man Cave." The products, which included caps, jerseys and footwear, carried a suggested retail price of over $29,000 and violated the intellectual property rights from Nike, MLB, NBA and NFL.
In addition to a prison sentence, Burdue was also ordered to serve two years of supervised release and pay $4,081.50 in restitution to CAPS.
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