The Brief
- A San Francisco woman was sentenced in Phoenix federal court after netting over $92,000 selling counterfeit Native American jewelry on eBay.
- Molly Breivis, 57, imported knockoffs from Asia and falsely marketed them as authentic pieces by Apache, Laguna, Navajo and Zuni artisans—ignoring multiple federal warning letters along the way.
- Breivis was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine, sentenced to time served and forced to post an official letter of apology to tribal artists on a federal website.
PHOENIX – A California woman was sentenced in a Phoenix federal courtroom on Wednesday after admitting to running an online scheme that sold more than $92,000 worth of counterfeit Native American jewelry imported from Asia.
What we know:
Molly Breivis, 57, of San Francisco, was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine alongside a sentence of time served. Breivis pleaded guilty to misrepresentation of Indian-produced goods, admitting that she fraudulently marketed Asian knockoffs as authentic tribal creations. As part of her plea agreement, she must also publish a formal letter of apology to the Native American community on the federal Indian Arts and Crafts Board website.…