A 23-year-old Texas man has pleaded guilty to selling counterfeit vape pens that were imported from China and bore the trademark of a popular vape brand, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas announced earlier today.
The man, Christopher Andrew Reyes of The Colony, entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to import drug paraphernalia.
Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah said in a press release that the defendant “imported thousands of potentially dangerous black-market vaping devices” and that the “alarming incident of lung injuries stemming from unregulated THC vapes” meant that the authorities “could not allow any more of these devices onto our streets.”
While Mr. Reyes pleaded guilty earlier today, it was back in September 2019 that U.S. Customs & Border Protection agents intercepted a shipment of 2,400 counterfeit vape pens addressed to Reyes and en route to his home. Agents estimated that at least five other shipments had already been sent to Mr. Reyes.
Mr. Reyes is now facing up to three years in federal prison and his sentencing date is set for August 26, 2021.
