Crime & Safety
Lakewood Man Charged with Smuggling Phony Microsoft Software
Collier Bennett Harper, 30, of Lakewood faces two counts each of trafficking in counterfeit goods and smuggling -- charges that carry a maximum of 60 years in federal prison.
A Lakewood man appeared in federal court Monday on charges of illegally importing more than 1,000 counterfeit Microsoft Office CD-ROMs and selling them to unsuspecting customers over the Internet.
Collier Bennett Harper, 30, was ordered held in custody pending a bail hearing Thursday, according to U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Bruce Riordan.
Harper, who was arrested late Friday, is charged in a four-count federal indictment stemming from the seizure of two shipments of Microsoft Office 2007 CD-ROMs, prosecutors said.
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Harper faces two counts each of trafficking in counterfeit goods and smuggling. The charges carry a maximum of 60 years in federal prison.
U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. said high-tech counterfeiting "now threatens nearly every consumer in the nation and it also causes harm to the vital intellectual property of our businesses and our manufacturers.''
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Prosecutors said the probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations determined that Harper contacted dealers on eBay and hired them to sell the bogus software.
According to investigators, he instructed the sellers how to list the software, describing the product as "new'' and authentic.
The sellers would provide Harper with the payment and the customers' addresses, and the defendant would ship the phony software to the unsuspecting buyers, according to the indictment. Based on evidence gathered during the probe, investigators believe he sold nearly 1,000 counterfeit software packages.
"The sale of counterfeit goods is not a victimless crime,'' said Claude Arnold, special agent in charge for HSI Los Angeles.
"These activities undermine our economy, rob Americans of jobs, stifle American innovation and promote crime,'' he said. "Intellectual property theft amounts to economic sabotage, which is why HSI will continue to aggressively pursue product counterfeiters and those who sell counterfeit products.''
Investigators estimate, based upon the manufacturer's suggested retail price, the seized software would have retailed for around $150,000 had it been genuine.