PLATTSBURGH — A local music-store owner told police he didn’t know selling fake guitars could net him anything more than a few hundred bucks.
Especially not a misdemeanor charge.
Speed of Sound Pro Audio store owner Shawn Ryan returned to City of Plattsburgh Court today to face allegations of trademark counterfeiting in connection with his alleged sale of three fake Gibson guitars.
At the time of his arrest earlier this month, the 36-year-old Morrisonville man allegedly had three other knock-off guitars on display at his Clinton Street store.
Those guitars were spotted by a regional Gibson employee who stopped by the store to check out the merchandise after another local guitar dealer told him the fakes were allegedly being sold there.
City Police were later contacted, and detectives found the three look-alike guitars allegedly advertised for sale in the downtown store.
In a statement to police after his arrest, the eight-year store owner said he purchased the guitars from an online dealer he met last year at a music-merchants’ convention in California.
When he received the shipment of “Gibson” guitars, he said, he “found nothing that indicated to me that they were not genuine.”
He said he was told the guitars, which had an altered logo, different weight and cost from authentic Gibsons, were overstock or B-stock guitars.
According to his statement, Ryan said he sold one of the guitars to an acquaintance before his guitar technician took a closer look at them and suggested they may be fakes.
“After this, I did more research and found out they were indeed fakes,” Ryan said.
“At that point, I sold/represented them as fakes, clones or copies.”
He said he sold three to local customers, who played the guitars and wanted to purchase them as is, about a fourth of the cost than an original, without certificates of authenticity.
“I did not realize that having or selling a fake as a fake was illegal,” Ryan said, adding that he never told the Gibson employee that the guitars were authentic.
After returning to City Court, his case was adjourned until early next month.
Ryan is being represented by attorney Allan Cruikshank.
E-mail Andrea VanValkenburg at:
avanvalkenburg@pressrepublican.com
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