PORTLAND, Maine — A Pennsylvania man who sent a shipment of fake OtterBox cellphone cases to a reseller in Maine has pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods.
Michael Kurnik, of York, Pennsylvania, entered his plea Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Portland and faces up to 10 years in prison at sentencing scheduled for Feb. 2.
Prosecutors say the 25-year-old Kurnik purchased fake OtterBox cases from China and resold them in the United States to dealers like the one in Maine, knowing they were counterfeit and being distributed in violation of federal patent and trademark laws.
Kurnik continued to distribute the fakes even after OtterBox told the Maine reseller in May 2013 that they planned to sue.
Authorities seized about 6,700 counterfeit cases from a Pennsylvania warehouse.