Couple guilty in air bag scheme

Brother, sister plead guilty to selling fakes

A brother and sister team has pleaded guilty to selling counterfeit vehicle air bags and air bag covers online and out of their Albuquerque home.

Dina Gonzalez-Marquez, 24, and Emilio Gonzalez-Marquez, 22, were charged after they sold a fake air bag and cover to an undercover homeland security officer in 2015, according to Dina Gonzalez-Marquez’s plea documents filed in federal court in Albuquerque Wednesday.

The two now face deportation to Mexico and five years each of unsupervised probation, though sentencing has yet to be scheduled, according to a news release from federal prosecutors.

Air bags and covers like the ones the two sold can be purchased to replace broken devices or air bags that have deployed in a crash.

In her plea, Dina GonzalezMarquez says she knew they were selling fake merchandise, which officials say can fail to deploy or deploy dangerously once installed.

“Specifically, I would purchase counterfeit airbags and covers from overseas and list them for sale on eBay, Craigslist, AirBagsPlace.com, Airbag-Driver-SideCover.myshopify.com, and GemsCarAirBagCover.jimdo.com,” Dina Gonzalez-Marquez said, according to her plea documents.

At one point, eBay blocked the duo from selling their items on the site because the items had been determined counterfeit.

And an attorney for Honda contacted the two and told them to stop selling the counterfeit items, many of which included fake Honda stamps.

Still, the plea agreement says the brother and sister continued to sell the items, including to an undercover officer, online and out of their home on Valencia and Trumbull, near San Mateo and Zuni.

They were charged with conspiracy and trafficking in counterfeit goods or services in April 2017. They entered their pleas Wednesday.