A Maryland man was sentenced to nearly three years in prison for his role in a sophisticated conspiracy to import and sell counterfeit computer networking equipment. Donald H. Cone, 48, of Frederick, has also been ordered to pay $143,300 in restitution.
John Torres, a special agent in charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the District of Columbia, said the criminal enterprise had many victims.
“This case is an example of a scheme that robbed the legitimate companies that made these products, undermined the U.S. economy by robbing Americans of jobs, stifled American innovation and promoted other types of crimes like money laundering,” Torres said.
A federal jury convicted Cone and a co-conspirator, Chun-Yu Zhao, of Chantilly, in May after a three-week trial.
Zhao, who was convicted on 15 additional counts, including false statements, immigration violations, and money laundering, will be sentenced on Sept. 9. She faces more than 50 years in prison and fines of more than $2,000. She must also give up two Porsches, one Mercedes-Benz, seven homes and condominiums worth more than $2.6 million, and $1.6 million from numerous bank accounts.
Prosecutors said 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) Limited.
JDC Networking Inc., 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, prosecutors said.
To evade detection, Zhao used various names and addresses in importation 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, authorities said.
The criminal operation was broken up after U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents intercepted counterfeit products from China that had been sent to Cone, Zhao and JDC Networking.
