Missouri Man Faces 40 Years for Importing and Selling Counterfeit DVDs
A Missouri man pleaded guilty Oct. 29 to playing part in a conspiracy to import and sell counterfeit DVDs over the internet. Matthew Cerullo, of Springfield, imported more than 22,000 counterfeit DVDs from Hong Kong between February and Sept. 2013, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri. He sold the DVDs over the internet on eBay and Amazon through several businesses he owned, it said. Cerullo faces up to 40 years in prison without parole, the attorney’s office said.
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The federal investigation began when CBP seized a shipment of counterfeit DVDs at John F. Kennedy International Airport that was addressed to Cerullo. When interviewed by ICE, Cerullo told agents he did not receive a seizure notice, and that he only orders toys and jewelry from China for resale, and not counterfeit DVDs. Searches of Cerullo’s residence instead found four CBP seizure notices in a desk. That resulted in a charge of making false statements to federal agents. Federal agents conducted the search after observing Cerullo mail a large quantity of packages at a local post office. Inspectors discovered that Cerullo had mailed 165 packages of counterfeit DVDs to individuals around the country, the attorney’s office said. Cerullo also faces charges of mail fraud, trafficking in counterfeit labels, and trafficking in counterfeit goods.