Glendale Man Pleads Guilty in Fashion Smuggling Case

A Glendale man pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to charges that he helped an international smuggling ring funnel $2 million worth of counterfeit designer fashion accessories into the U.S. labeled as copier parts.

Sun Hyung Lee, 44, a Korean citizen, allowed the smugglers to use his company, Western Toner, to disguise the bogus goods as “wiper blades for laser printers” to fool U.S. customs officials, said Deputy U.S. Atty. Erica Martin.

The counterfeit merchandise--handbags, luggage and clothing bearing fake labels of prestige firms like Chanel, Dooney & Bourke, Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Guess--was manufactured in Korea. Prosecutors said Lee imported the goods in 40-foot containers, each of which held thousands of items, with two rows of boxes of wiper blades near the door to conceal the illegal merchandise.

“He was acting as a line to bring these products into the country,” Martin said. “He arranged for the merchandise to be shipped here from Korea, and he solicited people [in the U.S.] to buy it from him and distribute it. In that sense, he is the main smuggler” of the group, she said.

Lee is the seventh person to plead guilty to counterfeiting charges in the case. The defendants were arrested in November after the U.S. Customs Service, in a sting operation, seized six containers of counterfeit goods with a total street value of about $2 million.

Martin said Lee sold each container for about $20,000 to $30,000.

Other members of the smuggling ring faced additional charges for trying to bribe customs officials to get the merchandise back, federal officials said.

Martin said Lee may have successfully imported up to 11 containers full of goods before he was caught.

Lee, who pleaded guilty to smuggling and trafficking charges, faces up to 15 years in prison and more than $2 million in possible fines. All defendants in the case are scheduled to be sentenced in U.S. District Court on April 17.