Md. man jailed for counterfeit computer imports
The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday that Donald H. Cone, 48, of Frederick, Md., was sentenced in Alexandria, Va., to 30 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to import and sell counterfeit Cisco-branded computer networking equipment.
U.S. District Court Judge Gerald Bruce Lee also ordered Cone to pay $143,300 in restitution and to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term. A federal jury convicted Cone and a co-conspirator, Chun-Yu Zhao of Chantilly, Va., in May after a three-week trial. Zhao will be sentenced on Sept. 9.
According to the evidence introduced at trial, Zhao, Cone and Zhao's family members in China operated a large-scale counterfeit computer networking equipment business under the names of JDC Networking Inc. and Han Tong Technology (Hong Kong) Ltd. JDC Networking, located in Virginia, altered Cisco products by using pirated software, and created labels and packaging in order to mislead consumers into believing the products it sold were genuine Cisco products. To evade detection, Zhao used various names and addresses in import documents, and hid millions of dollars of counterfeit proceeds through a web of bank accounts and real estate held in the names of family members in China.
Md. man jailed for counterfeit computer imports
