DERRY — A new bill before the Legislature would allow police to confiscate counterfeit items after they make an arrest.
Sen. Bob Letourneau, R-Derry, is the sponsor of a bill that has passed through the Senate and will be heard soon in the House. He said the new bill strengthens a law he sponsored last year.
"There has been no opposition to this," he said.
The law passed last year made it illegal to sell counterfeit goods in the state. The first offense is a misdemeanor and subsequent convictions are felonies, punishable by prison time. But Letourneau wants to do more.
"It doesn't have enough teeth to stop the selling of counterfeit goods completely," he said.
The new law allows police to confiscate counterfeit goods after an arrest so the items cannot be resold elsewhere, Letourneau said.
Derry has been the center of counterfeit sales in the state, but recently vendors have been looking to sell their fake purses, clothing and sunglasses in other small communities, too, Letourneau said.
Derry police made their fourth raid on the Grandview Flea Market on Jan. 30. They arrested three men on charges of selling counterfeit goods, bringing the total number of people arrested there to 17 in the past eight months. In addition, federal law enforcement agents arrested three people during a raid there in June.
Letourneau said he was surprised to see counterfeit goods for sale at an annual fair in Sandwich in October.
"It's just a small town fair and there was a guy selling counterfeit goods," he said.
Derry police Capt. Vernon Thomas said the new bill also better defines a marking on a counterfeit good.
Vendors have been able to skirt the law because the counterfeit goods aren't marked with a brand name until they are sold, Thomas said. The vendor would either give the brand name to the customer to apply or they would apply them right at the time of the sale, he said.
Under the new law, possessing the counterfeit item and the markings separately would be illegal, he said.
Although there are fewer vendors selling counterfeit goods, Thomas said, that may be due more to seasonal changes than police activity.
"We'll keep after this until it has stopped," he said.
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