Flea Market Owner Guilty of Trafficking in Counterfeit CD Labels

TYLER, TX—United States Attorney Rebecca A. Gregory announced today that a 58-year-old Texarkana man has pleaded guilty to trafficking in counterfeit labels in the Eastern District of Texas. 

LESLIE RAY WHITE entered his guilty plea yesterday before United States District Judge David Folsom.

According to information presented in court, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant on March 1, 2007, at the premises of Great American Outlet Mall, also known as Sissies Place and Great American Flea Market, Inc., in Texarkana, Bowie County, Texas. Great American Outlet Mall was owned and operated by White. During the execution of the search warrant, agents found and seized approximately 1,894 compact disks, each of which had a counterfeit label enclosed with or accompanying it. The retail value of the items, had they been legitimate, was approximately $28,000.

At the plea hearing, White admitted that he was intentionally trafficking in the compact disks and offering them for sale to the general public. He also admitted that he knew that the labels were counterfeit.

As part of the plea, White also agreed to pay restitution of approximately $28,000 and to forfeit to the United States the sum of $28,000. In addition, the compact disks and other merchandise seized from the defendant will be forfeited. White could receive up to five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000. A sentencing date has not been set.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated this case. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Alan R. Jackson.

Press Releases | Dallas Home