About

Direct Link to Department of the Justice Press Release

For Immediate Release

U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Wisconsin

Friday, January 30, 2026

Jose Farinango Muenala falsely told customers jewelry he sold was handmade by Pueblo Indians

MADISON, WIS. - Chadwick M. Elgersma, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Jose Farinango Muenala, 47, Casselberry, Florida, pleaded guilty on January 28, 2026, to misrepresenting Indian produced goods. Following the guilty plea, Farinango Muenala was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 3 years of probation and a $25,000 fine.

In January 2023, the Indian Arts and Crafts Board received complaints that a man with the business name Southwest Expressions was going to art shows and misrepresenting that the jewelry he was selling was handmade by Pueblo Indians. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service subsequently launched an investigation and identified the man as Farinango Muenala.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that since 2012, Farinango Muenala had attended dozens of art shows as a vendor, including the 2023 Loon Day Festival in Mercer, Wisconsin. At these shows, Farinango Muenala misrepresented himself as a Pueblo or a Native American from New Mexico. He also misrepresented that the jewelry he sold was handmade by himself or other Pueblo Indians, when in fact, the jewelry was mass produced and imported from the Philippines. Between 2012 and 2023, Farinango Muenala's business Southwest Expressions made 40,905 individual sales, and grossed over $2,686,000.

At sentencing, Judge Conley emphasized that for years, Farinango Muenala profited by regularly and intentionally misrepresenting the jewelry that he sold. Judge Conley also acknowledged the significance of the statute Farinango Muenala violated, noting it was meant to protect Native Americans.

"The Indian Arts and Crafts Board, U.S. Department of the Interior, administers and enforces the Indian Arts and Crafts Act (IACA), a truth in marketing law," said the Board's Director Meridith Stanton. "The IACA is intended to rid the Indian arts and crafts marketplace of counterfeits to protect the economic livelihoods and cultural heritage of Indian artists, craftspeople, and their Tribes, as well as the buying public. Authentic Indian art and craftwork is an important tool for passing down cultural traditions, traditional knowledge, and artistic skills from one generation to the next. The defendant in this case falsely claimed to be a third-generation jewelry maker from the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico while he sold imported Philippines jewelry as authentic Indian made across several states. These sales of fake Indian art tear at the very fabric of Indian culture and undercut the marketability of the creative work of federally recognized Tribes."

U.S. Attorney Elgersma and Director Stanton praised the collaboration between IACA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and thanked all those who helped bring Farinango Muenala's conduct to light. Both stressed that his prosecution sends a strong message that violators of the IACA will be held accountable.

The charges against Farinango Muenala were the result of an investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of the Interior Indian Arts and Crafts Board. Assistant U.S. Attorney Taylor L. Kraus prosecuted this case.

Updated January 30, 2026

**Photo courtesy of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act Investigative Unit, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service