San Gabriel Smugglers of Knockoff Goods Sentenced to Federal Prison

A San Gabriel Valley man who coordinated the importation of 11 shipping containers of counterfeit designer apparel valued at more than $2.3 million was sentenced today to 31 months in federal prison.

The sentencing in Los Angeles federal court was the second in the past two weeks in which a smuggling operation involving knockoff goods resulted in a prison term.

Last week, a Glendale man who brought bogus AMG wheels into the country received a one-year sentence.

Kevin "Peter" Wang, 54, of Rosemead, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt, who also ordered Wang to serve an additional six months of home detention and to pay a $10,000 fine and $50,000 in restitution.

The counterfeit goods included fake Nike shoes labeled as garment hangers; counterfeit Coach, Gucci and Louis Vuitton handbags labeled as toilet paper; and bogus NFL, NBA, and NHL jerseys.

Wang helped Chinese exporters bring counterfeit goods into the United States from 2008 to 2012.

According to court documents, the counterfeit goods were smuggled in shipping containers through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

In April, Hamlet Ayvazyan, 37, of Glendale was sentenced to one year in federal prison and ordered to pay a $4,000 fine in connection with the knockoff AMG wheels. AMG is German company that make after-market products for Mercedes- Benz vehicles.

Ayvazyan, owner of Speedvision Motorsport in Glendale, imported counterfeit wheels  from a Chinese business known as Shandong Chiping Xinfa Aluminous Product Co. Ltd.

Both defendants pleaded guilty to trafficking in counterfeit goods.