To reuse the OP's example, I don't think someone running an enterprise devoted to selling counterfeit handbags would be subject only to civil liability.
Why is this getting downvoted? Under present American law, it's factually true. That doesn't make the valuation used for sentencing here correct, but counterfeit commercial goods in the USA really can be a criminal matter.
From what I understand by reading and listening an interview with this guy, the issue is the damages were inflated so he can then be put in prison. IMO this case feels similar with cases where music/movie industry hyper-inflates the damages caused by someone that shared a file, because the companies have infinite budgets they can get away wit it.
That might be so, but it seems many here (and other places online) don't think he did anything wrong. The idea that this enterprise was purely an altruistic drive to reduce electronic waste sits poorly with e-mails showing him going out of his way to produce more convincing counterfeit labels.