Alcorn County man sentenced in AG’s largest counterfeit investigation

ALCORN COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – A former Alcorn County business owner who attempted to sell millions in counterfeit products was sentenced Thursday.

Russell W. Haynie, 45, of Stantonville, Tennessee pleaded guilty in Alcorn County Circuit Court to Possession of Counterfeit Goods with Intent to Distribute.

Haynie was sentenced to five years in jail. He was also ordered to pay $1,000 in fines.

Haynie also pleaded guilty last November in federal court to Trafficking of Counterfeit Goods. He was sentenced to 32 months in prison, along with being ordered to pay $152,930 in federal restitution for Louis Vuitton products and $167,930 for Michael Kors products.

He will serve the state and federal sentences simultaneously.

State and federal investigators arrested Haynie and a second suspect in September of 2016 at their Corinth business, Discount Wallet Outlet, after it was discovered Haynie was selling more than $1.5 million in counterfeit products to the public from his store and online.

Haynie was then arrested a second time in September 2017 where investigators found $2 million worth of counterfeit goods at his house.

Investigators said they found Yeti-brand products, Life Proof and Otter Box phone cases, Ray Ban sunglasses, Beats by Dre, and Apple and Bose products. Michael Kors, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Coach, MCM, and Tory Burch bags were found in the home as well.

This case was part of General Jim Hood’s Knock Out Knock Offs (KOKO) Task Force. It was the largest undercover counterfeit operation since the task force started 10 years ago.

Multiple state and federal agencies assisted in this investigation including the Alcorn County Sheriff’s Department, the United States Department of Homeland Security, and the US Postal Service.