Two Ticket brokers, Jermi Michael Conaway and James Bell were both charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, and one count of wire fraud.
The Information alleged that Conaway and Bell each conspired with former United States Golf Association (USGA) employee Robert Fryer to operate a fraud scheme against the USGA where Fryer would steal U.S. Open tickets and provide them to Conaway and Bell in return for cash. Conaway and Bell would sell the stolen tickets through their company for a profit. Furthermore, USGA had no knowledge that Fryer was stealing these tickets or providing them to the ticket brokers. In fact, USGA had a strict 20 ticket cap on the number of tickets that it would sell to any one person, but Conaway and Bell were allegedly able to acquire thousands of U.S. Open tickets by purchasing stolen tickets from Fryer.
The Information filed against Conaway alleges that Conaway, who initially worked for another ticket broker, began purchasing from Fryer stolen U.S. Open tickets in 2013, when the U.S. Open was held at the Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. The Information alleges that in connection with the 2013 through 2015 U.S. Open tournaments, Conaway sold, through his then-employer, a total of 4,918 stolen U.S. Open tickets that he had obtained from Fryer, with a face value of $774,230. The Information further alleges that starting in 2015, Conaway began selling the stolen tickets through a new ticket broker company he owned and operated, Eagle Eye Ticketing Management, LLC (“Eagle Eye”). In connection with the 2015 through 2019 U.S. Open tournaments, Conaway purchased from Fryer and sold through Eagle Eye 10,586 stolen U.S. Open tournament tickets for $1,789,853. Conaway paid Fryer $513,719, thus earning a profit of $1,276,134, which the Information seeks to have forfeited. The Information alleges that all told, whether through his employer or through his own company, Conaway obtained stolen U.S. Open tickets from Fryer that had a face value of $2,428,465, which should have been paid to the USGA for the tickets, thus causing USGA to lose that amount of ticket revenue.
The Information filed against Bell alleges that Bell, who operated Sherry’s Theater Ticket Agency, Inc. (“Sherry’s”), began purchasing stolen U.S. Open tickets from Fryer in 2017, in advance of the U.S. Open that was held at Erin Hills in Erin, Wisconsin. He continued purchasing stolen tickets through the 2019 U.S. Open. The Information alleges that Bell paid Fryer $324,652 for at least 7,000 stolen U.S. Open tournament tickets, which Bell sold for $922,886, yielding a profit of $598,234, which the Information seeks to have forfeited. The Information alleges that all told, Bell obtained stolen U.S. Open tickets from Fryer that had a face value of $1,282,000, which should have been paid to the USGA for the tickets, causing the USGA to lose that amount of ticket revenue.
Conaway and Bell each face a maximum sentence of 100 years in prison, a three-year period of supervised release, a $1,250,000 fine, and a $500 special assessment. In addition, Conaway and Bell each will be required to pay restitution to the USGA and forfeit the proceeds each obtained as a result of their fraud.
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