Texas Man Faces 5 Years in Prison for Importing & Selling Chinese Counterfeit Hair Irons
A southeast Texas man pleaded guilty Thursday of conspiring to traffic in counterfeit CHI hair care products, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said. Eric White, an Internet seller of hair care products, admitted he imported and resold counterfeit CHI hair irons, which are manufactured by Farouk Systems, from April to September 2010, ICE said. White imported the counterfeit hair irons from China and sold them on the Internet through his company, Royal Cosmo. After three CBP seizures of White’s hair irons and a cease-and-desist letter from Farouk, ICE seized 147 counterfeit hair irons at White’s home in September 2010, it said. White faces up to five years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine.
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According to ICE, White was contacted in April 2010 by counsel for Farouk Systems and given a certified cease-and-desist letter notifying him that they had learned he was selling counterfeit CHI irons on the Internet. The letter also informed him of the penalties for trademark infringement.
After the April 2010 cease-and-desist letter, White continued to illegally import counterfeit CHI products from China, ICE said. On three occasions, CBP agents seized a package of counterfeit CHI products. On each occasion, agents mailed White a letter notifying him of the seizures and stating the products were determined to be counterfeit, ICE said.
Pursuant to a search warrant, ICE special agents obtained emails from White's account. According to ICE, those emails illustrated that after the cease-and-desist letters and CBP seizures, White and his Chinese suppliers discussed using different shipping carriers, delivery names and addresses in an effort to avoid customs. In September 2010, ICE executed a search warrant at White's home and seized 154 CHI hair irons. Subsequent analysis determined that 147 of the 154 were counterfeit.