Husband and Wife Each Sentenced to a Year and a Half in Prison for Scheme to Import and Sell Counterfeit Cell Phones, Accessories

PHILADELPHIA - United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Yangwei Li, aka Jason Lee, Jason Li, Bryan Li, and Ryan Li, 38, and Yawen Huang, aka Yvonne Huang, 38, both of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were each sentenced this week to 18 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and $60,000 in restitution by United States District Judge Chad F. Kenney, for their scheme to import and sell counterfeit cell phones.

The defendants were charged by indictment in September 2023 and pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud in November of last year.

As detailed in court filings, starting in July 2018, United States Customs and Border Protection ("Customs") began to intercept shipments of telephones and telephone accessories in the Ports of Philadelphia, New York, and Louisville. These shipments were addressed to defendant Li, under one of his multiple aliases, at three Philadelphia addresses associated with Li and his wife, co-defendant Huang.

The devices in these packages bore counterfeit trademarks of major manufacturers, such as Samsung, Apple, and AKG, as well as counterfeit Underwriters Laboratories symbols. The counterfeit status was established by experts from the trademark owner and/or Customs.

In total, between July 2018 and July 2020, Customs seized 24 shipments of counterfeit telephones and accessories imported by Li and Huang, with a total manufacturer's suggested retail price of nearly $350,000.

When Customs seized the defendants' counterfeit items, it issued notices of seizure to Li, under his various aliases, at the listed import addresses. Each of those notices identified the items had been seized, advised that they were counterfeit, and solicited contrary evidence. Neither Li nor Huang responded to any of the Customs notices. Likewise, Samsung sent a total of six cease and desist letters to Li, under various aliases. Neither Li nor Huang responded to Samsung's letters.

On April 2, 2021, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Li and Huang's residence on the 2100 block of Chandler Street in Philadelphia. Agents recovered numerous types of counterfeit items, including Apple and Apple Watch charging kits; Apple accessory kits; iPhones and iPhone charging cables; Samsung wall and car chargers; Samsung headphones; AKG headphones; LG chargers; and UL charging cables. The domestic value of the items seized at the defendants' residents was approximately $224,197. Agents also found Samsung and iPhone packaging, as well as laptops, thumb drives, and cell phones linking Li and Huang to six eBay sites selling counterfeit items.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Paul Shapiro and Ruth Mandelbaum.