Published: September 29, 2008 11:42 pm      

Plea made, sentence given in fake movies case

GREENVILLE — A Dallas man, indicted on a felony labeling charge following raids last summer on booths at the Quinlan Trade Days sale, has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.

Rogelio Noe Juarez, 35, was one of a total of seven people, including three juveniles, who were taken into custody on Aug. 12, 2007 after investigators with the Hunt County Sheriff’s Office and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) conducted raids on the sale which resulted in the seizure of thousands of allegedly counterfeit DVDs and CDs.

Investigators were said to have seized more than 9,000 DVDs and CDs alleged to have been counterfeit, based on the fact that the labeling on the products was not consistent with standards set by the MPAA or the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The MPAA and the RIAA placed a value of more than $161,000 on the items seized by the sheriff’s office.

During a hearing Monday morning in the 354th District Court, Juarez pleaded guilty to a Class A misdemeanor charge of false labeling less than seven items and was sentenced to 45 days in the Hunt County Jail, with four days credit for time previously served.