iPhone smuggler Jianhua “Jeff” Li was sentenced to three years in prison after being convicted of smuggling 40,000 counterfeit iPhones into the U.S. from China.
Smuggling iPhones
Between July 2009 and February 2014, Mr. Li smuggled 40,000 fake iPhones into the United States. He used fake labels and packaging to avoid detection by U.S. Customs. He made over US$1.1 million from the scheme, which he wired to overseas accounts.
Jianhua “Jeff” Li, 44, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty of the District of New Jersey, to one count of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods and labels and smuggle goods into the United States and one count of trafficking in counterfeit goods. Judge McNulty imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
Other conspirators pled guilty to their roles in the scheme. Rosario LaMarca got 37 months in prison, Andreina Becerra received three years of probation, and Roberto Volpe was sentenced to 22 months in prison.
Further Reading:
[Engineer Yi-Chi Shih Faces Prison for Smuggling US Military Chips to China]
[Apple Found Workers Trying to Smuggle iPhone Components via a Tunnel]