Li Dong, the CEO of a Beijing pharmacy chain, said he intends to file an appeal after he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for selling phony 3M face masks by a Beijing court on Friday.

Li's sentencing comes as the country strengthens its crackdown on crimes that hinder COVID-19 epidemic prevention efforts. He profited from peddling counterfeit masks in January, the Chaoyang District People's Court said.

Two others involved in the case, Li Yuzhang and Luo Hanyi, were also sentenced to several years in prison by the court for selling counterfeit and inferior products. Their exact sentencing terms were not made public.

All three said they would appeal their convictions.

Li Dong, who founded the Kang Bai Xin Drugstore chain in 2004, asked Li Yuzhang and Luo to order more than 500,000 masks labeled "3M" from individual vendors in Gaomi, Shandong province, at a low price and sold them at a high price from Jan 21 to 26.

Many customers complained about the poor quality of the masks after buying them.

Inspections by 3M and Chinese quality supervision and inspection agencies found the masks were counterfeit, and their filtering efficiency was substandard.

Police set up a task force on Jan 29 to investigate the case. Between Jan 30 and Feb 1, the three suspects were arrested. On Feb 25, prosecutors charged them with selling fake products.

On Feb 28, the drugstore issued a public apology and offered compensation of three times the price of the masks to its customers.

Severe punishment should be meted out for crimes that hinder epidemic prevention measures, including manufacturing and selling counterfeit or inferior drugs and protective materials, according to a guideline issued by judicial authorities in February.

As of April 16, Chinese procuratorates at all levels had prosecuted 166 people for producing and selling counterfeit or inferior products related to the outbreak and 21 people for jacking up prices of goods, according to data from the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the top procuratorate.

"Such crimes not only seriously disturbed the market and social order, but also infringed upon the health and safety of the people, especially front-line medical and epidemic prevention personnel," said Zheng Xinjian, a senior prosecutor with the SPP.

"Many cases involved masks, disinfectant, protective clothing and other basic materials for epidemic prevention, and the harm was much more direct and severe."

When proposing sentences during trials, prosecutors will fully consider the serious social harm caused by such offenses during the epidemic, Zheng said.