U.S. District Judge Lourdes G. Baird handed down the sentence against the 41-year-old Thai after he pled guilty in August 2001 to four counts of violating CPSC's small parts requirements for children's toys. The Judge also ordered that Thai, and any company with which he is associated in any way, must conduct pre-importation testing and evaluation to ensure compliance with CPSC's standards.

"CPSC is pleased that the Court is requiring the testing of toys that Thai's companies import," said CPSC Acting Chairman Thomas Moore. "This case should alert all toy importers, manufacturers, and distributors that CPSC is willing to prosecute individuals who place children at risk of serious injury."

Thai's business illegally imported toy trucks, racing cars, planes, wind-up robots, and trains. Despite repeated notice from the CPSC that he was violating the law, Thai continued to import the illegal toys. Toys with small parts are a choking hazard for children under 3.

Every year CPSC recalls numerous children's products that could contribute to unnecessary deaths or injuries. In 2000, there were 151,000 children (under 15 years old) that were treated in hospital emergency rooms due to toy related incidents, resulting in 17 deaths.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission protects the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death from 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC's hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270, or visit CPSC's web site at http://www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. For information on CPSC's fax-on-demand service, call the above numbers or visit the web site at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/103.html. Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at CPSC's web site at http://www.cpsc.gov.