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Missouri men indicted for trafficking counterfeit goods

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Two local men were indicted Wednesday for trafficking in counterfeit goods after federal agents seized hundreds of pairs of counterfeit Nike shoes and other counterfeit apparel from them. The charges resulted from an investigation conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Brent Darrell Luna, 25, of Nixa, Mo., and Lukas Antonio Rivas, 21, of Springfield, were charged July 28 in a six-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the Western District of Missouri.

The federal indictment alleges that between October 2007 and January 2009, Luna and Rivas trafficked in counterfeit Nike athletic shoes and counterfeit National Football League (NFL) jerseys.

Luna is charged with one count of trafficking in counterfeit Nike athletic shoes and one count of trafficking in counterfeit NFL jerseys. Luna is also charged with smuggling $48,464 worth of Nike athletic shoes into the United States.

Rivas is charged with two counts of trafficking in counterfeit Nike athletic shoes. Luna and Rivas are also charged with one count of aiding and abetting each other to traffic in counterfeit Nike athletic shoes.

The federal indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require Luna and Rivas to forfeit to the government all of the counterfeit goods that were seized by ICE agents, including more than 600 pairs of Nike athletic shoes, 45 NFL and NBA jerseys, 67 Major League Baseball caps, dozens of clothing items with designer labels, as well as $3,448 in cash.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall D. Eggert, Western District of Missouri, is prosecuting the case. ICE was assisted in the investigation by the Springfield, Mo., Police Department.