A Lawrenceville home that police say doubled as a knockoff luxury warehouse is now the center of a major counterfeiting case in Gwinnett County.
According to Gwinnett County police, the department’s vice unit executed a search at the residence on May 13 and reported finding more than $900,000 in counterfeit designer merchandise. Officers also seized a vehicle, a firearm and roughly 60 grams of marijuana, according to the department’s account.
Atlanta News First reports that investigators served a search warrant at the home and cataloged a large haul of fake luxury items. The outlet noted that officers arrested Quentessa Gordon and Tameka Gordon. Police charged Quentessa with selling goods with forged or counterfeit trademarks, possession of marijuana greater than one ounce, possession of a firearm during the commission of certain felonies and multiple traffic-related counts. Tameka faces charges of selling goods with forged trademarks and a traffic-related offense, according to the same report.
A department release that was republished by Classic City News lays out the statutory grounds prosecutors may use in the case, including O.C.G.A. 10-1-454, which addresses forged or counterfeited trademarks and increases penalties as the retail value of seized counterfeit goods climbs.
Gwinnett Vice Unit No Stranger To Million-Dollar Knockoff Hauls
Gwinnett’s vice investigators have been down this road before. In 2021, the county publicized an operation that recovered more than $15.8 million in counterfeit merchandise from a Lawrenceville business. A release from Gwinnett County showed just how extensive that earlier sweep was.
Local coverage has also linked similar counterfeit cases to drugs and firearms. In April, a Norcross search turned up hundreds of allegedly fake Coach bags along with narcotics and weapons, a raid detailed in a truckload of fake Coach.
What The Charges Could Mean Under Georgia Law
Georgia law treats large-scale sales of forged trademarks as felonies, with potential prison time and fines that increase with the total retail value of the counterfeit goods. The counterfeiting statute is codified at O.C.G.A. 10-1-454, which is summarized on Justia.
Possession of more than one ounce of marijuana is a felony under O.C.G.A. 16-13-30, and possession of a firearm during the commission of certain felonies is charged under O.C.G.A. 16-11-106. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation offers CCH offense code listings that provide quick statutory references for those and related charges.
Authorities say charges have been filed in the current case and the suspects were taken into custody, with the matter now moving through Gwinnett County’s court system. Atlanta News First reports that the outlet was among several that carried the police department’s summary of the seizure and arrests.
