ERAI Blog

Rogelio Vasquez Sentenced to 46 Months’ Incarceration

Anne-Liese Heinichen

Rogelio Vasquez, aka “James Harrison”, owner of PRB Logics Corporation, has been sentenced to 46 months in a federal prison after pleading guilty to trafficking in counterfeit military goods, trafficking in counterfeit goods, and wire fraud. In addition, Vasquez was ordered to pay $144,000 to the US Government in restitution fees.

On December 27, 2018, Vasquez pleaded guilty to knowingly supplying counterfeit parts to the US military including parts that were historically used in military applications including the B-1 Lancer Bomber aircraft. If the counterfeit ICs had been used in the B-1, they, “would have likely caused impairment of the combat operations, or other significant harm to a combat operation because a failure of the counterfeit ICs would impact the B-1’s operational capabilities.”

Between November 2015 and May 2016, Vasquez knowingly sold 82 counterfeit Xilinx ICs and 24 counterfeit Analog Devices ICs that had military applications totaling $91,580.00 to undercover agents. In a telephone conversation with agents, Vasquez assured undercover agents that his Chinese suppliers would “do a perfect job of re-marking the parts” and further offered to have his supplier provide photos for the military customer. In another conversation, Vasquez was informed that the counterfeit parts he was supplying were being procured for the B-1 Bomber by a top defense contractor. Vasquez assured the undercover agent that the parts would be remarked with a specific date code to meet the government’s requirement. The undercover agent knowingly provided Vasquez with a date code that was fake according to Xilinx; subsequent communications showed Vasquez instructing his Chinese supplier to mark the parts with that same non-existent date code.

While operating as PRB Logics, Vasquez was previously reported by ERAI three times for suspect counterfeit product in 2011, 2012 and 2013 as well as for a past due invoice in late 2017. Vasquez has also been associated with several other companies that have been reported by ERAI and is thought to have used additional aliases not named in the indictment.

In a statement, Joseph Macias, Special Agent in Charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, Los Angeles said, “as this sentence makes clear, military procurement fraud is a serious crime that extends far beyond the financial losses to the DOD and U.S. taxpayers…this defendant committed a crime that seriously threatens the safety and readiness of our nation’s warfighters simply to line his own pockets. HSI will continue to aggressively target and investigate those who knowingly jeopardize our nation’s security or the welfare of those devoted to protecting it.”