Heavy Charges

A Long Island music shop owner suspected of selling fake Gibson Les Paul guitars was arraigned May 1st but it wasn’t done in the usual manner.

The alleged guitar counterfeiter reportedly weighs 500 pounds and can’t walk too far so his hearing was held in the courthouse parking lot as he sat in his pickup truck.

The man’s lawyer gave State Supreme Court Justice Robert Doyle a doctor’s letter stating the defendant suffers from osteoarthritis, which led to the judge granting the unusual request.

The shop owner entered a plea of not guilty to trademark counterfeiting and criminal stipulation for allegedly selling fake Gibsons for $1,500 to unsuspecting buyers. He was released without bail.

The shop owner has since closed his business reportedly because of his health problems and the counterfeiting charge.