Pretrial diversion for St. Charles man over unlicensed sports items
A St. Charles man charged with selling counterfeit Chicago sports team shirts has since obtained trademarks for some of his designs and has been accepted into Kane County's pretrial diversion program, his attorney said.
Joshua G. Latendresse, 46, of the 1800 block of Wallace Drive, was arrested in June 2016 after an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security into trademark and copyright violations and charged with several felony counts of manufacture of counterfeit items.
According to court records and St. Charles police, Latendresse had made and sold apparel of the Bears, Blackhawks, Cubs, White Sox and Seattle Seahawks football team without permission or licenses from their respective leagues in May 2016.
At the time, police said Latendresse was sewing and embroidering items on his own and did not have rights to sell the products.
Latendresse's case was set for a jury trial in Kane County in April 2018, but that was canceled and he was accepted this week into the diversion program, where first-time, nonviolent felony defendants can have the charges dismissed if they stay out of trouble, complete community service and meet other requirements.
Defense attorney Liam Dixon said his client entered the pretrial diversion program this week because he would not have to plead guilty and did not run the risk of a guilty verdict at trial. Dixon said prosecutors planned to call trademark experts as witnesses to testify about Latendresse's designs and whether they violated trademarks.
Dixon said his client didn't want to plead guilty even if his sentence was probation and has since obtained copyrights for many of his designs. Latendresse did not believe his designs broke the law, Dixon said.
"The logos he was selling didn't have a 'Chicago' or anything on it. It just had an image," Dixon said.
Had the case gone to trial, Latendresse faced a punishment ranging from probation to up to five years prison on the most severe charge.
Dixon said Latendresse has up to two years to complete the program, but it may end sooner if Latendresse finishes his 100 hours of community service. He also must pay about $4,000 in fines and restitution.