Lakewood man arrested on suspicion of selling counterfeit software

A Lakewood man was behind bars Monday after being arrested on suspicion of importing more than 1,000 counterfeit Microsoft products and selling them over the Internet.

Collier Bennett Harper, 30, would contact reputable sellers on EBay and hire them to sell the imported Microsoft Office CD-ROMs, which he requested be described as new and authentic, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The sellers would provide Harper with the buyer’s information and payment, and he would ship the software to the buyers, according to the Justice Department statement.

Investigators believe nearly 1,000 counterfeit software packages were sold,worth $150,000 based on the manufacturer’s suggested retail price.

Harper is charged with two counts of trafficking counterfeit goods and two counts of smuggling, the Justice Department statement said. He faces a maximum sentence of 60 years in federal prison.

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