A Chula Vista, CA man pled guilty May 22 to selling hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of counterfeit World Cup soccer jerseys over the Internet even after receiving a cease and desist letter from Nike, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California.
In pleading guilty, Clemente Leon admitted that in August of 2013, approximately four months after he began importing soccer jerseys and other clothing from China, he received a Cease and Desist letter from Nike. Leon acknowledged that after learning that the jerseys were counterfeit, he nonetheless continued to import the counterfeit soccer jerseys, and then placed counterfeit World Cup team patches and stencils with the names of World Cup players on the backs of the jerseys, in his garage in Chula Vista.
Leon, 37, admitted that he sold the jerseys bearing the unauthorized and counterfeit trademarks throughout the United States over the Internet on his own website, www.playerasfutbol.com, and via Amazon.com, and received payment via PayPal and other means. Leon agreed that the value of the counterfeit goods he sold was between $120,000 and $320,000. As part of his plea, he agreed to forfeit $50,000 of proceeds from the sale of the counterfeit jerseys.
Leon is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 17, 2015, at 8:30 a.m. before the Hon. John A. Houston, United States District Court Judge.
