About selling knockoffs

The first clue the designer handbags were counterfeit was their location inside a Glen Burnie gift shop.

The makers of Coach, Gucci, buy tiffany jewellery Versace and Kate Spade only sell their products in high-end stores such as Neiman Marcus and Macy’s, according to Richard Logue, a private investigator from Bowie drafted by the designers to help protect their trademarks.

Gift World, located in a strip mall gucci handbags between a nail salon and a barber shop, just didn’t measure up.

“That was the biggest tip,” said Logue, a former detective with the Prince George’s County Police. “Without even walking in I could tell these weren’t legit. Even a regular citizen would be able to tell right away.”

If there was any doubt, though, there also were loose Dolce & Gabbana and Jimmy Choo emblems stashed in a corner of the store, true religion Nathan labels inside many of the purses indicating they were made in China, and price tags selling the handbags for a fraction of the manufacturers’ list prices.

Zhi Cheng Lin, the owner of the shop at 322 Hospital Drive from which federal agents and county police last December seized more than $350,000 worth of knockoff purses, pleaded guilty last week in county Circuit Court in Annapolis to one count of trademark infringement. The 38-year-old Rockville man was granted a probation before judgment, ordered to pay $2,724 in restitution and placed on two years wedding ring sets probation.

The raid - a rare occurrence in Anne Arundel County - and subsequent conviction come as federal customs agents and pros-ecutors work to crack down on the importation and distribution of counterfeit merchandise across the country.