Pasadena Apple Store Among Locations Targeted in $16.2 Million Counterfeit Device Scheme, L.A. Man to Be Sentenced Today – Pasadena Now

An East Los Angeles resident who admitted taking part in a multimillion-dollar counterfeit iPhone and iPad scheme that included returns at the Pasadena Apple Store is scheduled to be sentenced today in Los Angeles.

Junwei Jiang, 39, pleaded guilty in August 2025 to one federal count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud. Sentencing is expected at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom 7B of the U.S. Courthouse at 350 W. First St.

Prosecutors say Jiang and several co-defendants imported counterfeit iPhones and iPads from China, then returned them at Apple stores across Southern California — including locations in Pasadena, Beverly Hills, Sherman Oaks, Irvine, Northridge, Manhattan Beach, Brea, Rancho Cucamonga and Cerritos, as well as stores at The Grove in Los Angeles, South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Fashion Island in Newport Beach and The Americana at Brand in Glendale.

Court papers show the counterfeit devices carried real identification numbers and serial numbers belonging to genuine Apple products owned by customers throughout the United States, which deceived Apple into replacing the counterfeit items with real ones under the company’s warranty programs.

After successfully obtaining the genuine replacements, prosecutors say the defendants shipped the devices to co-conspirators in the United States and abroad, primarily in China, where the genuine Apple devices were resold at a substantial profit.

Cupertino-based Apple said the scheme caused the company at least $16.2 million in losses.

Three other defendants also pleaded guilty in Los Angeles federal court and await sentencing. A fourth, Zhengxuan Hu, 28, of Alhambra, pleaded guilty and was sentenced in March to two years behind bars for his role in the scheme.