The bosses of US reseller Direct Deals has been sent down for touting fake Cisco gear imported from the Far East.

According to reports stateside, Timothy Weatherly, 29, was sentenced to 27 months in a federal penitentiary for conspiring to import goods through false statements.

White label equipment was shipped from China, counterfeit Cisco badges were slapped on the machines and bogus manuals supplied with the products that were punted online.

Weatherly's partner-in-crime, Christopher Myers, 42, a fellow boss at Direct Deals, admitted his role in the scam back in July and received a 33-month sentence.

The pair were apparently using legit serial numbers from Cisco and operating with a Hong Kong manufacturer to prevent customs officials from spotting the ruse and confiscating the kit.

The problem of faked gear for the networking biz giant refuses to go away, probably because it's a nice little earner for crooks. Only in September the top dog of a China-based Cisco counterfeit ring was incarcerated for 60 months and forced to pay back more than $2.7m in restitution. ®