Fake Goods Hawker Charged after State Police Raid Warehouse of Phony Uggs

JOHNSTON, RI—Forty-seven year old Richard Rufo of Johnston kept a warehouse in Smithfield full of knockoff clothing, footwear and handbags, according to the Rhode Island state police.

Rufo, of 989 Atwood Ave., Johnston, is now facing numerous charges including forgery, counterfeiting and altered trademarks and marijuana possession after a state police raid of the warehouse at 2 Esmond St. in Smithfield where police found fake Ugg and Timberland boots, North Face jackets, Nike and Puma shoes and professional sports logos plastered on clothing without official licenses.

The arrest Friday comes just over a week after Rufo was busted in Mansfield, Mass., at a sports memorabilia show after a private investigator hired by trademark owners tipped off police that he was hawking bogus items at a sports card and memorabilia show at a Holiday Inn.

That investigation led police to the Smithfield warehouse where Rufo had stockpiled more than 1,000 items with an estimated street value of $112,000, according to the state police.

Ruffo was arraigned in Third Division District Court in Warwick on Friday before Associate Judge Pamela Wood-Pfeiffer and was released on $10,000 surety bail.

In Massachusetts, the PI reportedly bought a shirt with a New England Patriots logo and police said it was counterfeit.

For selling items at the show in Mansfield, Rufo has been charged by local police there with distribution of counterfeit merchandise.

Police also found oxycodone and suboxone pills in a bag in Rufo’s van along with an ounce-and-a-half of marijuana.

Rufo is due to return to court on April 26.