Las Vegas man involved in international counterfeit contact lens scheme is sentenced to prison

A Las Vegas man who raked in over $1 million through an international counterfeit contact lens scheme was sentenced Wednesday to 46 months in federal prison, and ordered to pay $200,000 in restitution.

U.S. District judge James Mahan also ordered Dmitry Melnik, 30, to forfeit $1.2 million in profits he reaped from his illegal enterprise, which involved importing tens of thousands of counterfeit or misbranded colored contact lenses from China, South Korea and Taiwan and then selling them at inflated prices. The scheme lasted from 2011 to 2013; U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden described it the “largest-ever scheme” to import and sell counterfeit and misbranded contact lenses prosecuted in the United States.

In pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods and to introduce into commerce misbranded devices, Melnik admitted to selling substandard contact lenses to tens of thousands of customers, often without a prescription and without providing adequate health warnings.

Authorities estimated he grossed over $1,500 a day in profits from his online business.