United States v. Frison, Sr., No. 15-1284 (8th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseDefendant was convicted of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, aiding and abetting copyright infringement, and aiding and abetting the trafficking of counterfeit goods. Defendant's convictions stemmed from his role as the owner of a flea market where vendors sold counterfeit goods. The court rejected defendant's argument that the statutes under which he was charged and convicted are unconstitutional as applied to him because he did not have fair notice that his behavior was criminal; it was unclear what he should have done to avoid liability; and law enforcement enforced the statutes arbitrarily. In this case, defendant was not merely a passive landlord who is merely renting his property. Rather, defendant was actively involved at his market, continually reminded his vendors that he was in charge, and even involved himself in regulating the prices of counterfeit goods. Even if defendant had been a less active landlord, a person of ordinary intelligence would reasonably understand that intentionally selling counterfeit products at a flea market, or willfully infringing copyrighted works at the market for financial gain, could result in criminal liability, and that intentionally aiding and abetting such conduct could result in the same. Furthermore, the evidence shows that defendant received actual notice that his conduct as the operator of the flea market was unlawful. The evidence showed that defendant both understood that his tenants were acting contrary to the law and actively helped to facilitate the unlawful conduct to his and his tenants’ financial benefit. In this case, defendant presents no reason to believe the statutes at issue did not clearly apply to him, and he fails to consider that although his arrest did not occur sooner, he was given numerous warnings over the years that his conduct violated the law. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Kelly, Author, with Loken and Gruender, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law. Constitutional challenges to the statutes covering aiding and abetting copyright infringement and trafficking in counterfeit goods rejected as the statutes were not unconstitutionally vague as to defendant's sales of counterfeit goods because he had fair notice that his conduct was criminal; a person of ordinary intelligence would reasonably understand that intentionally selling counterfeit goods at a flea market or willfully infringing copyrighted works at the market for gain could result in criminal liability, and that intentionally aiding and abetting such conduct could also result in criminal liability; further, defendant was given actual notice on a number of occasions that his conduct violated the applicable law.
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