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August 29, 2005
Live Strong counterfeiters confess
In an earlier post, I called out the despicable practice of selling counterfeit LIVESTRONG bracelets, a product meant to raise money for Armstrong's cancer charity that in some cases was just lining the pockets of some counterfeiters. Those particular ones were in China, but some local ones have now found genuine trouble with the law.
Six people have pleaded guilty in New York to charges relating to the sale of thousands of phony LiveStrong wristbands.
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer says the six also have turned over almost 112-thousand dollars to the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which markets the real LiveStrong bands. Authorities say undercover investigators bought a thousand of the bogus wristbands from a Manhattan storefront in March. They say they found 81-thousand more there and at a home in Queens.
The authentic wristbands sell for a dollar each and intended to fund Armstrong's Austin-based foundation, which provides services to cancer patients.
The Austin bicycling great started the group after he defeated cancer and won a record seven Tour de France titles. About 55 million genuine LiveStrong wristbands have been sold since the campaign began in the spring of 2004.
Blog by Dan at August 29, 2005 02:46 PM