Juneau, Alaska (KINY) – A Washington point out person was sentenced Monday for selling Philippine made goods as reliable Alaska Native created artwork, violating the Indian Arts and Crafts Act.
According to court docket documents, Cristobal “Cris” Magno Rodrigo, 59, was sentenced to two many years in federal prison. He is also needed to make a $60,000 donation to the Tlingit and Haida Central Counsel Vocational Plan, write a letter of apology to be revealed in the Ketchikan Everyday Newspaper and provide 3 years’ supervised release. According to the Indian Art and Crafts Board, this is the longest sentence a defendant has received for any Indian Arts and Crafts violation in the U.S. – 18 months longer than any other sentence.
From April 2016 to December 2021, when residing in Washington condition, Rodrigo and his loved ones owned and operated Alaska Stone Arts LLC. and Rail Creek LLC. in Ketchikan, Alaska. Alaska Stone Arts LLC. principally marketed stone carvings, and Rail Creek LLC. largely offered picket totem poles. The carvings and totem poles have been sourced from Rodrigo Resourceful Crafts, a company owned by his spouse and found in the Philippines.
The Philippine small business was made for the sole objective of creating carvings featuring Alaska Native styles and motifs using Philippine labor. The carvings were being transported to the U.S. and then to the family’s suppliers in Ketchikan where they ended up later on bought as genuine Alaska Native artwork.
Rodrigo also hired Alaska Natives at the two Ketchikan stores to characterize and sell Philippine generated artwork as their own reliable Alaska Indigenous artwork. The staff advised prospects they were all similar household functioning in the retail store and the art was all produced from domestically sourced resources and designed by Alaska Natives.
Prior to the conspiracy, Rodrigo worked in Alaska at different suppliers and retailers developing stone carvings that have been sold in the vacationer trade for around 20 several years. He taught the kinds of Alaska Indigenous stone art and wood totem poles to the Philippine primarily based organization.
In 2019 and for part of 2021, the household and their Alaska-dependent corporation staff members marketed about $1 million really worth of Philippine manufactured carvings presented as Alaska Native artwork.
Co-conspirators in this case consist of Glenda Tiglao Rodrigo, 46, and Christian Ryan Tiglao Rodrigo, 24. Their scenarios are ongoing.
“The actions the defendant took to purposefully deceive shoppers and forge artwork is a cultural affront to Alaska Native artisans who pride on their own on generating these historical functions of artwork, and negatively has an effect on those people who make a residing training the craft,” reported U.S. Legal professional S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska. “Mr. Rodrigo’s monumental sentence is a testomony to the federal government’s perseverance to prosecuting Indian Arts and Crafts Act violations, and the U.S. Attorney’s workplace will continue to operate with legislation enforcement companions to secure Alaska Native cultural heritage and unwitting clients, and maintain perpetrators accountable who have out this sort of fraud.”
“The Indian Arts and Crafts Board administers and enforces the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, a truth-in-marketing law,” claimed Indian Arts and Crafts Board Director Meridith Stanton. “The Act is meant to rid the Alaska Indigenous and Indian arts and crafts market of fakes and counterfeits, in order to guard the economic livelihoods and cultural heritage of Alaska Native and Indian artists and craftspeople and their Tribes and villages, as nicely as the purchasing general public. Genuine Alaska Indigenous artwork and craftwork is an critical software for passing down cultural traditions, classic knowledge, and creative skills from 1 technology to the future. Fakes and counterfeits, these kinds of as individuals marketed for large sums of income by the Rodrigos, tear at the very cloth of Alaska Native tradition, Indigenous livelihoods, and Native communities. Mr. Rodrigo’s sentencing should mail a sturdy information to people who prey on genuine Alaska Indigenous artists and susceptible consumers that this harmful carry out will not be tolerated, and Act violators will be held accountable.”
“The Rodrigos sold imported goods as Alaska Native produced in their Ketchikan, Alaska retail outlet,” stated Edward Grace, Assistant Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Office of Law Enforcement. “This deceptive business enterprise apply cheated prospects and undermined the financial livelihood of Alaska Native artists. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Support has a dedicated group of unique agents that do the job on violations of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act. This sentence was the outcome of the solid collaboration amongst our unique agents, the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, and the U.S. Attorney’s Business office.”
The Office of Inside – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Business office of Regulation Enforcement, with aid from the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, U.S. Customs and Boarder Protections, and U.S. Section of Agriculture, investigated the circumstance.
Assistant U.S. Lawyer Jack Schmidt prosecuted the scenario.