South Florida business owners accused of selling counterfeit sports apparel worth $530k

Investigators said the couple was selling hundreds of fake soccer items out of multiple stores across the county with a total value of more than half a million dollars.

By Christian Colón •
Published 1 hour ago •
Updated 1 hour ago

NBC Universal, Inc.

A major counterfeit sports apparel bust has landed two South Florida business owners behind bars.

Investigators said the couple was selling hundreds of fake soccer items out of multiple stores across the county with a total value of more than half a million dollars.

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On social media, Silvia Soccer Liga Sports encouraged fans to buy from their variety of jerseys to represent countries like Ecuador or Portugal, but now police say the business owners behind seven of these sports apparel stores were recently busted for selling fake brand-name items for a fraction of the real retail price.

Booking photos of Julio Pillacelas Sanchez and Silvia Urgilez Guartan

Julio Pillacelas Sanchez turned himself in Monday, about three weeks after his wife, Silvia Urgilez Guartan, was arrested.

Miami-Dade deputies — working alongside Homeland Security and brand investigators from companies like Adidas — uncovered hundreds of counterfeit products.

At a northwest Miami-Dade location, which records show was used as a wholesale distributor, police said they found more than 3,000 fake Adidas soccer sets and over 800 imitation major league soccer uniforms — with a total retail value of over $530,000.