Fake airbag seller gets jail sentence

A Vancouver man who imported and sold hundreds of counterfeit vehicle airbags on eBay and Craigslist, has been sentenced to six months in prison. 

Vitaliy Yaremkiv pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods after being arrested in April, and admitted to selling approximately 960 counterfeit airbags that he imported from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. He asked $110 for the airbags and is estimated to have made around $137,000 from the trade, but will now pay restitution of the same amount to Honda and Toyota.

Counterfeit airbags can be extremely dangerous and during testing have been known to catch fire, spew hazardous debris, and separate completely from the vehicle, according to the US Department of Justice.

He faced imprisonment for up to 10 years but received the six-month sentence after coming to a plea agreement.