Father, son arrested again in raid // MUGS

A man selling counterfeit merchandise over the Internet was arrested Wednesday after a two-month investigation, Bay County sheriff’s investigators said.

His son was arrested, too — for growing and selling marijuana, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Joseph J. Wunsch III, 47, ran wholesale-urban-clothing.com, deputies said. Some customers’ orders never were filled, investigators said, and Wunsch issued no refunds.

Deputies searched the Pelican Bay Drive residence and also found an indoor marijuana grow operation, they said. That allegedly belonged to Joseph J. Wunsch IV, 23.

Wunsch III was charged with two counts of grand theft on charges he defrauded two customers.

Wunsch IV was charged with cultivation of marijuana, possession of cocaine, possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia.

Both were booked at the Bay County Jail.

They were arrested in a nearly identical case in June 2005 after police said they discovered a truckload of counterfeit clothing and accessories at the same address.

From the archives (June 3, 2005):

PANAMA CITY BEACH - A father and son are in jail after police discovered a truckload of counterfeit merchandise at their Panama City Beach home Wednesday.

Joseph Julius Wunsch III, 43, and Joseph Julius Wunsch IV, 19, face several felony charges stemming from their sale of counterfeit purses, suitcases, shoes, belts, wallets and sunglasses, according to Bay County Sheriff’s Office reports. Investigators reported recovering hundreds of counterfeit products with brand-name labels such as Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Chanel, Dooney & Burke and Oakley.

The items were being sold over the Internet as "Five-Star Replicas" — meaning that only someone in the business of dealing the real products would notice they were fakes, said Sheriff’s Investigator Jeremy Mathis.

The arrest of the Wunsches came after about a seven-month investigation of counterfeit merchandise dealing in Bay County.

In October, investigators served a search warrant on the Wunsch residence at 2509 Pelican Bay Drive and discovered several pieces of counterfeit merchandise. Investigators did not press charges against the pair at the time due to continuing investigations, said Capt. Jimmy Stanford.

However, on Tuesday, an Illinois woman contacted the Sheriff’s Office to report that on May 13 she ordered more than 150 replica handbags at a cost of about $5,000 from the Wunsches’ company "World Wide Replicas." The woman told investigators she never received the fake products.

Armed with another search warrant, investigators said they returned to the Pelican Bay residence and found enough counterfeit goods in the home to fill a large moving truck. They also found cocaine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia in the home, resulting in additional drug charges against the Wunsches, according to police reports.

Stanford said the Wunsches’ operation has been going on for about a year. He said people dealing in counterfeit items is not new to Bay County.

"If there’s a business dealing replicas for a tenth of the price, people will buy," Stanford said. "Yet it hurts the companies that made the real products."

He said investigators will continue to "crack down" on people selling counterfeit goods in Bay County.

"We’re not talking about busting someone walking around wearing a fake Rolex (watch)," he said. "But because of the quantity … when you start talking hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal products … you can’t quite ignore that."

Wunsch III faces charges of possession of counterfeit goods, sale of counterfeit goods, grand theft, possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. Wunsch IV faces charges of principal to possession of counterfeit goods, principal to sale of counterfeit goods, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Both men remain in the Bay County Jail pending bond.