Ex-California resident pleads guilty to $250K sports memorabilia scheme
An ex-Californian pled guilty to “selling hundreds of thousands of dollars” worth of fake sports and celebrity memorabilia,” the U.S. Department of Justice Central District of California announced on Monday.
Anthony J. Tremayne, 58, pled to one count of mail fraud and faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison, according to a press release.
Tremayne had been living in West Covina, California, and currently resides in Rosarito, Mexico.
He admitted to selling more than $250,000 and up to $550,000 in fake memorabilia, U.S. officials said
That included items purported to be signed by members of the Los Angeles Lakers, LA Clippers, Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, Los Angeles Angels (then of Anaheim), the Los Angeles Kings and “a golf star,” witnesses said according to ESPN.
The laundry list of items also included signed replica Stanley Cups, signed boxing gloves and Pro Football Hall of Fame jackets.
Tremayne went as far as to send “Certificate of Authenticity” forms, while both the item and the authenticity form were fake, the news release said.
“For example, in November 2019, Tremayne mailed a ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ photograph containing forged signatures of three of the show’s 22 personalities, which he purported to be genuine signatures. Tremayne sold the fake memorabilia to a buyer – who happened to be an undercover FBI agent – in Anaheim in exchange for $200.”
Tremayne will return to court for a sentencing hearing on August 11.
By taking the plea, Tremayne knocked down the charges he was facing, which included 13 counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft.
Federal prosecutors had also alleged that Tremayne had made the move to Mexico in order to duck paying roughly $1.4 million in taxes in the United States.
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