Two Israeli citizens pleaded guilty and were sentenced for smuggling counterfeit and misbranded pharmaceuticals into the U.S., including the erectile dysfunction drug marketed as Cialis, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Two Baltimore warehouse owners pleaded guilty to conspiring to transport stolen nickel briquettes stored next to their warehouse, which had been imported through the Port of Baltimore, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Gregg Lee Purbaugh, 50, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty Monday and his business partner, Kenneth Trainum, 44, also of Baltimore, pleaded guilty April 20. Purbaugh and Trainum, owners of Bear Creek Warehouse Company, each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

The Court of International Trade dismissed another action brought by a domestic producer challenging the distribution of funds under the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (CDSOA) (aka the Byrd Amendment) with regard to the antidumping duty orders on certain polyester staple fiber from Korea (A-580-839) and Taiwan (A-583-833).

The Court of International Trade granted the U.S. Trade Representative’s motion to dismiss a challenge to the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement’s provision to distribute $500 million solely to members of the Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports (CFLI). The action was brought by non-CFLI members of the domestic softwood lumber industry.

An antiquities dealer pleaded guilty to smuggling Egyptian cultural property into the U.S. and making a false statement to law enforcement authorities, said Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

Two Chinese nationals were charged in a 46-count superseding indictment for a variety of charges including software piracy and illegally exporting technology to China, reports Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. The indictment charges that between April 2008 and June 2011, Xiang Li distributed over 500 pirated copyrighted works to at least 325 purchasers located in Delaware, at least 27 other states and over 60 foreign countries. More than one-third of the purchases were made by individuals within the U.S.

Whether copyrighted works obtained legally abroad can be imported into the U.S. without their owners' "authority" will be judged by the Supreme Court, which granted cert Monday to Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons. The 2nd, 3rd and 9th U.S. circuit courts of appeal have issued varying opinions on the relationship between Copyright Act Section 602(a)(1), which requires owner authority for import, and the first-sale doctrine codified in Section 109(a), which allows resale of copies "lawfully made" without an owner's permission (See ITT Online Archives [Ref. 12041667]). The Supreme Court failed to decide the same question in a 2010 case, Costco v. Omega, concerning the resale of imported foreign watches, deadlocking 4-4 without the participation of Justice Elena Kagan, who had taken part in the case as U.S. solicitor general.

The Court of International Trade is requesting comments by May 14, 2012, on a Notice of Proposed Amendments to the Rules for Review and Comment. The proposals pertain to CIT Rule 54.1, and include, among other things, a requirement that applications for attorney’s fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act be filed within 30 days after the date of final judgment (the Rule previously stated that applications must be filed within 30 days after the court enters final judgment). A new sentence also says the 30-day statutory period for filing an application under the Equal Access to Justice Act begins to run after the expiration of the time period for filing an appeal. Proposed amendments to Rule 54.1 are available here.

A Pennsylvania man was charged with smuggling counterfeit Viagra and Cialis pills into the U.S. The case is being investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. An HSI investigation revealed that Randy Hucks rented several mail boxes at a U.S. Postal Facility in Philadelphia on behalf of businesses that he allegedly owned under such names as Bargain Basket Inc., Fashionista Inc. and Fashionista Emporium Inc. As part of the alleged scheme, Hucks illegally imported 10,188 counterfeit Viagra pills and 3,040 counterfeit Cialis pills from factories in China. If convicted, Hucks faces up to 100 years in federal prison and a fine of $5 million.

A Miami businessman pleaded guilty in connection with the illegal receipt, purchase and sale of ozone-depleting refrigerant gas that had been smuggled into the U.S., following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Criminal Investigation Division and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The investigation revealed that Carlos Garcia, 53, of Mar-Cone Appliance Parts Co., would routinely seek out and arrange the purchase of black market hydrochlorofluorocarbon-22 (HCFC-22), which is a widely used refrigerant for residential heat pump and air-conditioning systems, from various importers who did not hold the required unexpended consumption allowances, totaling about 55,488 kilograms of restricted HCFC-22, with a fair market value of approximately $639,458. The refrigerant gas was distributed by Mar-cone throughout the United States.