24 arrested for selling counterfeit items at Covered Bridge Festival

MANSFIELD, Ind. (AP) - Authorities have seized tens of thousands of suspected counterfeit items from several booths at the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival in Indiana, resulting in the arrests of 24 people.

Indiana State Excise Police officers say they executed search warrants Wednesday at the event in Mansfield. Charges include forgery and counterfeiting. Those arrested are from states including Illinois, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Authorities say the investigation started following citizen complaints in 2015.

Once festival booths were set up this year, undercover officers bought counterfeit items from several booths. Indiana State Excise officers worked with agents from Advanced Investigative Services and Continental Enterprises Inc. on the case.

Items seized were believed to be imitations of brands including Nike, The North Face, Oakley, Adidas, Beats by Dre and professional sports leagues.

The 24 people were arrested and taken to the Parke County Jail were: Xuxiang Yang, 34, Wei Cheng, 59, and Huiquan Qiu, 40, Na Xing, 29, Jarad Wazeen, 22, and Guohueshi Shi, 58, all of Chicago; and Fina Zhang, 47, Lin Xiaoqiong, 27, Yiqiad Wang, 25, Xiaomei Ke, 49, Jian Chen, 36, and Cheng Yu, 47, all of Flushing, N.Y.

Also, Chang Wang, 59, College Point, N.Y.; Michael Barry, 18, Lake Forest, Ill.; Samuel Pickering, 20, Burbank, Ill.;

Asharf Sailveh, 25, Bridgeview, Ill.; Zekeriya Teke, 55, Stroudsburg, Pa.; Chen Long, 26, College Point, N.Y.; Zu Jing Zhang, 43, and Lehni Zheng, 24, both of New York City; Chong Zhang, 54, and Chin Mai Ying, no age available, of White Stone, N.Y.; Xiang Yan Hu, 44, Stafford, Texas; and Jian Sheng Chen, 59, Trenton, Mich.

Meanwhile, Parke County deputies patrolling Mansfield were also notified of a male subject paying vendors with counterfeit money on Sunday.

Deputies located the suspect, Keith G. Shepard, 42, Indianapolis, a short time later.

After the investigation Keith was arrested for forgery and possession of a controlled substance. Bond was set at $10,000.