THREE people face jail for their part in an operation selling fake goods worth tens of thousands of pounds – including One Direction clothing.
Kenneth Colley, aged 43, his former partner Anna Strzelecka, aged 39, and 45-year-old Jason Ross were part of a gang which offered counterfeit garments for sale on Ebay for three years.
Prosecutors claim the operation made more than £150,000 – though this figure is disputed by the defendants.Clothes bearing false trademarks such as One Direction and Boy London were sold on Ebay between 2009 and 2012.
The gang even had an expensive machine designed to print fake labels, Plymouth Crown Court heard.Colley, of Risdon Avenue, Prince Rock, and Strzelecka, of nearby Embankment Road, pleaded guilty to selling goods bearing false trade marks between July 2009 and July 2012.
The court heard the maximum jail term for the offence was 14 years.
Colley alone admitted possession of goods bearing false trade marks for sale between the same dates.He also pleaded guilty to applying false trade marks to goods.
Colley also admitted possession of a printing unit – namely a Coolemaster computer tower and printers – specifically designed to label clothing with a copy of a registered trademark.
Colley, Strzelecka, and Ross, of Penmere Drive, Newquay, all pleaded guilty to possession, conversion or transfer of criminal property, namely the proceeds from selling the fakes.
Prosecutors from Plymouth City Council have previously described the operation as a “large commercial enterprise” which netted the gang between £150,000 and £180,000.
Recorder Nicholas Hall adjourned the case until April 25 for a fact-finding hearing to establish the role Colley played in the gang.
A judge will also assess how much Colley and Ross made from the operation.
The trio will be sentenced and are then likely to face further court proceedings to seize their ill-gotten gains.
They were each released on unconditional bail.
Courtesy of Plymouth Herald