I represented a client last week in the Parsippany Municipal Court in Parsippany, New Jersey. She was originally charged with fourth degree counterfieting at the Morris County Superior Court in Morristown, New Jersey. This is a fourth degree indictable offense (felony) which was punishable by a maximum of eighteen (18) months in New Jersey State Prison. The basis for the charge was that she was allegedly selling fake Louis Vuitton purses at the Parsippany car show for $20 or $30 a piece. Everyone knew they were fake but somehow the police decided to bust her despite the fact that she had been doing this once a year for twenty years at the same car show and she was 65-years old with no prior criminal history. She has children and grandchildren and this whole incident was extremely upsetting to her.

Fortunately, I was able to get the fourth degree indictable (felony) charge downgraded to a disorderly persons offense in the Parsippany Municipal Court. Then, I was able to convince the municipal prosecutor to again downgrade the disorderly persons offense to a local ordinance violation for disturbing the peace which resulted in a $250 fine and no criminal record. Based on the circumstances, this was the right thing to do. One thing is for sure, my client will not be selling anything similar to Louis Vuitton purses next year at the Parsippany car show.