Date: 01-06-2020

Case Style:

Case Number: 2:19-cr-00200-DLR

Judge: John Z. Boyle

Court: United States District Court for the District of Arizona (Maricopa County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: Mona Sahaf and Peter Sexton

Defendant's Attorney:

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Description: Phoenix, AZ - The United States of America charged Christian Coxon and Laura Marye Wesley, a/k/a Laura Lott and Waleed Sarrar, a/k/a Willie Sarrar with conspiracy to import knock-off jewelry and fraud.

Three members of an international conspiracy to import knock-off jewelry from the Philippines and misrepresent it as Native-American have pleaded guilty for their roles in the fraudulent scheme.

All three defendants pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Z. Boyle of the District of Arizona. Laura Marye Wesley, a.k.a. Laura Lott, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit misrepresentation of Indian-produced goods, wire fraud, mail fraud, and entry of goods by means of false statements and smuggling goods, for her role in the manufacture, importation, and sale of knock-off jewelry as Native American-made. Wesley is scheduled to be sentenced on March 30, 2020.

Christian Coxon, 46, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to misrepresent Indian-produced goods and to commit wire fraud, for his role in ordering and misrepresenting imported, knock-off jewelry as Native American-made at his retail store Turquoise River Trading Company, located in San Antonio, Texas. Coxon is scheduled to be sentenced on March 23, 2020.

Waleed Sarrar, a.k.a. Willie Sarrar, 44, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to misrepresent Indian-produced goods and to commit wire fraud, for his role in ordering and misrepresenting imported, knock-off jewelry as Native American-made at his retail store Scottsdale Jewels, located in Scottsdale, Arizona. Sarrar is scheduled to be sentenced on March 30, 2020.

According to information that the defendants admitted to as part of their pleas, from January 2016 through February 2019, they conspired with each other, and others, to design jewelry in the Native-American Indian-style and manufacture the jewelry in the Philippines with Filipino labor. The defendants also conspired to import the jewelry from the Philippines to Arizona without indelible markings as required by law, and display, advertise, and sell the jewelry to customers based on false representations that the jewelry items were made by Indians in the United States. To perpetrate the fraud scheme, the defendants and their conspirators communicated by phone, text, and email, including across state and country borders; used private commercial shipping services such as FedEx to import jewelry from the Philippines to the United States; paid for the jewelry inventory through credit cards, including via web-based credit card processors, and by check; and charged the credit cards of customers who purchased the imported Indian-style jewelry.

As part of her plea, Wesley agreed that she owned and operated LMN Jewelers, a jewelry business that specialized in the sale of Native-American-style jewelry, and co-owned and co-operated Last Chance Jewelers, a similar jewelry business. She also admitted to removing “Made in the Philippines” stickers from bags of imported jewelry, smuggling jewelry into the U.S. from the Philippines through the U.S. Postal Service to avoid inspection by federal authorities at the port of entry, wiring money to the Philippines to cover the costs of the jewelry-making business there, working with Filipino factory workers who were manufacturing the knock-offs, and delivering the knock-off Native-American-style jewelry to retail jewelry stores in Arizona, Colorado, California, Texas, Minnesota, Utah, and elsewhere.

The defendants face a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and fines up to $250,000. Their sentencing dates have not yet been set.

The Indian Arts and Crafts Act (IACA) prohibits the offer or display for sale, or the sale of any good in a manner that falsely suggests that it is Indian produced, an Indian product, or the product of a particular Indian and Indian tribe. The law is designed to prevent products from being marketed as “Indian made,” when the products are not, in fact, made by Indians. It covers all Indian and Indian-style traditional and contemporary arts and crafts produced after 1935, and broadly applies to the marketing of arts and crafts by any person in the United States. The IACA provides critical economic benefits for Native American cultural development by recognizing that forgery and fraudulent arts and crafts diminish the livelihood of Native American artists and craftspeople by lowering both market prices and standards.

This case was investigated by the Office of Law Enforcement for the Southwest Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Phoenix Field Office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Law Enforcement and Security, the U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations, and the Texas Game Wardens.

Charges:

18:371 and 2 - Conspiracy and aid and abet
(1)
18:1159 and 2 - Misrepresentation of Indian Produced Goods and Products and aid and abet
(2-5)
18:1341 and 2 - Mail Fraud and aid and abet
(6-19)
18:1343 and 2 - Wire Fraud and aid and abet
(20-29)
18:1956(a)(2)(A) and 2 - International Promotional Money Laundering and aid and abet
(30-37)
18:1956(h) and 2 - Money Laundering Conspiracy and aid and abet
(38)

Outcome: 01/06/2020 90 CONSENT OF DEFENDANT Waleed Sarrar for Guilty Plea Hearing before a United States Magistrate Judge. (SMH) (Entered: 01/06/2020)
01/06/2020 91 MINUTE ENTRY for proceedings held before Magistrate Judge John Z Boyle: Change of Plea Hearing as to Waleed Sarrar held on 1/6/2020. Defendant (3) enters a plea of guilty to Count 1 of the Indictment. THE COURT ORDERS the trial date/pending hearings VACATED. Any pending motions are rendered moot. Prior release orders are AFFIRMED. The Court directs the US Probation Office to prepare a Presentence Report.

Appearances: AUSA Peter Sexton and Mona Sahaf for the Government, retained attorney Lee David Stein for defendant. Defendant is present and released. Sentencing set for 3/30/2020 at 01:30 PM in Courtroom 606, 401 West Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003 before Judge Douglas L Rayes. (Recorded by COURTSMART.) Hearing held 9:58 AM to 10:25 AM. This is a TEXT ENTRY ONLY. There is no PDF document associated with this entry. (SMH) (Entered: 01/06/2020)
01/06/2020 92 LODGED PLEA AGREEMENT as to Waleed Sarrar re: 91 Change of Plea Hearing. (SMH) (Entered: 01/06/2020)
01/06/2020 93 CONSENT OF DEFENDANT Christian Charles Coxon for Guilty Plea Hearing before a United States Magistrate Judge. (SMH) (Entered: 01/06/2020)
01/06/2020 94 MINUTE ENTRY for proceedings held before Magistrate Judge John Z Boyle: Change of Plea Hearing as to Christian Charles Coxon held on 1/6/2020. Defendant (4) enters a plea of guilty to Count 1 of the Indictment. THE COURT ORDERS the trial date/pending hearings VACATED. Any pending motions are rendered moot. Prior release orders are AFFIRMED. The Court directs the US Probation Office to prepare a Presentence Report.

Appearances: AUSA Peter Sexton and Mona Sahaf for the Government, retained attorney Zachary Storrs for defendant. Defendant is present and released. Sentencing set for 3/23/2020 at 01:30 PM in Courtroom 606, 401 West Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003 before Judge Douglas L Rayes. (Recorded by COURTSMART.) Hearing held 9:58 AM to 10:25 AM. This is a TEXT ENTRY ONLY. There is no PDF document associated with this entry. (SMH) (Entered: 01/06/2020)
01/06/2020 95 LODGED PLEA AGREEMENT as to Christian Charles Coxon re: 94 Change of Plea Hearing. (SMH) (Entered: 01/06/2020)
01/06/2020 96 MINUTE ENTRY for proceedings held before Judge Douglas L Rayes: Status Conference as to Richard Dennis Nisbet, Laura Marye Wesley, Waleed Sarrar, and Christian Charles Coxon held on 1/6/2020. The Court is advised as to the status of the case as to all defendants. The government will be filing a motion to dismiss the case as to defendant Richard Dennis Nisbet within the week. The Court will vacate the trial in this matter after defendant Laura Marye Wesley's change of plea hearing this morning. The remaining defendants have already entered a change of plea.

Appearances: AUSA Peter Sexton and Mona Sahaf for the Government, CJA Attorney David Eisenberg for defendant Richard Dennis Nisbet, retained attorney Seth Apfel for defendant Laura Marye Wesley, retained attorney Lee Stein for defendant Waleed Sarrar, and retained attorney Zachary Storrs for defendant Christian Charles Coxon. Defendant Richard Dennis Nisbet not present and deceased. Defendants Laura Marye Wesley, Waleed Sarrar, and Christian Charles Coxon are present and released. (Court Reporter Jennifer Pancratz.) Hearing held 10:32 AM to 10:35 AM. This is a TEXT ENTRY ONLY. There is no PDF document associated with this entry. (MMO) (Entered: 01/06/2020)
01/06/2020 97 CONSENT OF DEFENDANT Laura Marye Wesley for Guilty Plea Hearing before a United States Magistrate Judge. (SMH) (Entered: 01/06/2020)
01/06/2020 98 MINUTE ENTRY for proceedings held before Magistrate Judge John Z Boyle: Change of Plea Hearing as to Laura Marye Wesley held on 1/6/2020. Defendant (2) enters a plea of guilty to Count 1 of the Indictment. THE COURT ORDERS the trial date/pending hearings VACATED. Any pending motions are rendered moot. Prior release orders are AFFIRMED. The Court directs the US Probation Office to prepare a Presentence Report.

Appearances: AUSA Peter Sexton and Mona Sahaf for the Government, retained attorney Seth Apfel for defendant. Defendant is present and released. Sentencing set for 3/30/2020 at 04:00 PM in Courtroom 606, 401 West Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003 before Judge Douglas L Rayes. (Recorded by COURTSMART.) Hearing held 11:30 AM to 11:53 AM. This is a TEXT ENTRY ONLY. There is no PDF document associated with this entry. (SMH) (Entered: 01/06/2020)
01/06/2020 99 LODGED PLEA AGREEMENT as to Laura Marye Wesley re: 98 Change of Plea Hearing. (SMH) (Entered: 01/06/2020)
01/06/2020 100 MAGISTRATE JUDGE FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATION UPON A PLEA OF GUILTY AND ORDER as to Waleed Sarrar. Signed by Magistrate Judge John Z Boyle on 1/6/20. (SMH) (Entered: 01/06/2020)
01/06/2020 101 MAGISTRATE JUDGE FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATION UPON A PLEA OF GUILTY AND ORDER as to Christian Charles Coxon. Signed by Magistrate Judge John Z Boyle on 1/6/20. (SMH) (Entered: 01/06/2020)
01/06/2020 102 MAGISTRATE JUDGE FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATION UPON A PLEA OF GUILTY AND ORDER as to Laura Marye Wesley. Signed by Magistrate Judge John Z Boyle on 1/6/20. (SMH) (Entered: 01/06/2020)

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