Ohio man convicted of trafficking counterfeit sporting goods

TOLEDO, Ohio — A Toledo man will spend more than a year in prison for trafficking counterfeit goods for nearly a decade, despite numerous package seizures and injunctions.

Shane Burdue, 46, of Toledo, was sentenced to 14 months in prison for trafficking counterfeit goods, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio announced in a press release on Tuesday.

More than 800 international shipments were sent to various addresses in Toledo associated with Burdue between July 2014 and May 2023. Most of the shipments were sent from China, and some contained counterfeit goods, according to court documents.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has seized several shipments containing counterfeit goods, and Burdue has received several cease and desist letters from the Coalition to Advance Sports Logo Protection (CAPS), which coordinates trademark protection and enforcement for collegiate and national sports teams.

Despite several shipments being seized and a cease and desist letter being received, Burdue continued to sell the counterfeit goods, which he sold at a brick-and-mortar store in Toledo and online through Facebook, according to the Department of Justice, which did not disclose which brick-and-mortar stores were selling the counterfeit goods.

Several of Burdew’s Facebook accounts were suspended for selling counterfeit goods, but Burdew continued to create new accounts to continue selling his products.

In May 2023, authorities executed a search warrant in Toledo and seized hundreds of counterfeit sports equipment from Burdue’s company, Shane’s Man Cave. The products, including caps, jerseys and shoes, had suggested retail prices of over $29,000 and infringed the intellectual property rights of Nike, MLB, the NBA and the NFL.

In addition to the prison sentence, Burdue was also ordered to serve two years of probation and pay $4,081.50 in restitution to CAPS.