FLORIDA RESIDENTS AND CORPORATIONS CHARGED FOR CONSPIRACY TO SMUGGLE HAZARDOUS CHILDREN’S PRODUCTS, INCLUDING TOYS CONTAINING LEAD AND SMALL PARTS, FROM CHINA
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Alysa Erichs, Acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office, Vernon Foret, Director of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Miami Field Office, and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), announced the filing of an eight count Information charging defendants Hung Lam, 55, and Isabella Kit Yeung, 37, both of Miami-Dade County, and Florida corporations LM Import-Export, Inc. (LM), Lam’s Investment Corp. (LIC), and LK Toys Corporation (LK), with conspiracy to traffic and smuggle children’s products, including toys, containing banned hazardous substances, such as lead and small parts, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 (Count 1); trafficking in counterfeit goods, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2320 (Counts 2 and 3); smuggling goods contrary to law, in violation of 18 U.S.C. . § 545 (Counts 4 and 5); entry of goods pursuant to false statements, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 542 (Count 6 and 7); and false label country of origin, in violation of 19 U.S.C. § 1304(a) (Count 8). In addition, the U.S. is seeking the forfeiture of money and other property used in connection with these crimes, including the LM Warehouse. The defendants made their initial appearances in court yesterday, January 23, 2012.
According to the filed Information, from approximately April 2000 through May 2011, the defendants conspired to sell and distribute in commerce children’s products imported from China in violation of the Consumer Product Safety Act and the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. These products allegedly presented the risk of choking, aspiration, and ingestion, and some contained lead above the allowed statutory limits. According to the allegations in the Information, the defendants imported these products by means of false statements on custom declaration forms.
If convicted on the charges in Count 1, defendants Lam and Yeung face a statutory maximum sentence of up to five years in prison. If convicted of Counts 2 and 3, Lam and Yeung face a statutory maximum sentence of up to ten years in prison. If convicted of Counts 4 and 5, Lam and Yeung face a possible statutory maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison. If convicted of Counts 6 and 7, Lam and Yeung face a statutory maximum sentence of up to two years in prison. Lastly, if convicted on Count 8, Yeung faces a statutory maximum sentence of up to one year imprisonment. The corporate defendants LM, LIC, and LK face maximum fines of $500,000 on each count.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI, CPSC, and CBP. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman O. Hemming, III.
An Information is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
