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Kansas merchant admits selling counterfeit goods

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(AP) — A man accused of selling counterfeit shoes and clothing at a store in northeast Kansas has pleaded guilty in federal court.

The U.S. Attorney’s office says 45-year-old Jehad Shalabi pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit trademark goods.

Shalabi, of Blue Springs, Mo., operated a store called Joe Black in Kansas City, Kan. FBI agents reported making undercover purchases in 2011 of phony Nike shoes, a fake Polo Ralph Lauren shirt and other items.

Agents later seized nearly 600 counterfeit items with such trademarks as Major League Baseball, Ed Hardy, Rocawear and Coogi. Prosecutors said the counterfeit goods account for roughly 20 percent of the store’s weekly sales of up to $6,000.

Shalabi is scheduled to be sentenced in October.

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