Man selling ‘counterfeit’ NFL items arrested
A fireman from Phoenix, Arizona has been accused of selling counterfeit National Football League (NFL) shirts ahead of the Super Bowl, which is set to be staged in the city next month.
Justin Negrete, 31, was reportedly arrested yesterday (January 7) as a result of a special investigation by the Phoenix police into the sale of counterfeit NFL shirts in the run up to the Super Bowl.
The Super Bowl is the final game in the American football sporting calendar and features the winners of the Northern Football Conference and the American Football Conference. It will be held at the University of Phoenix stadium in Glendale, north-east Phoenix, on February 1.
The NFL has been forced to tackle the sale and distribution of counterfeit clothing in the past. In the run up to last year’s Super Bowl, US authorities seized almost $22 million worth of counterfeit shirts, hats and other accessories featuring the trademarks of the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos, the two teams that contested last year’s Super Bowl.
Then in June, a man living in Rhode Island was given a four-year sentence after thousands of counterfeit NFL items manufactured in China were seized by customs authorities at his address. The items were estimated to be worth up to $1 million.
