Story highlights
Two men produced, sold fake tickets to Super Bowl and related events in New York
Damon Daniels,43, and Eugene Fladger, 32, face dozens of charges, including forgery
Purchasers of fake items "may be in for a rude awakening on game day," district attorney says
Two men in New York allegedly produced and sold counterfeit NFL tickets for popular post-season games, including Sunday’s Super Bowl, and other high-profile events, the Queens County district attorney’s office said Tuesday.
Damon Daniels,43, of New York City, and Eugene Fladger, 32, of Philadelphia, allegedly forged and sold high-quality tickets on the Internet and on the streets of New York, according to the news release.
Fraudulent items included tickets to the 2014 AFC championship game, the NFL Commissioner’s Party at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan and the NFL Honors Party at Radio City Music Hall, according to the release.
The forged tickets had the official NFL logo and bar code imprinted upon them; the printing on the tickets was washed out and not properly aligned, according to the release.
“The defendants are charged with not only running a lucrative illegal operation that allegedly ripped off the National Football League and sports fans alike by manufacturing well-crafted counterfeit tickets using state-of-the-art equipment but creating a security nightmare … at this Sunday’s Super Bowl by allegedly selling fraudulent parking passes,” Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said in the release.
“Beyond that, individuals who bought tickets or passes through the Internet may be in for a rude awakening on game day.”
An undercover investigation into the operation began in December after the NFL’s Security Division notified the New York Police Department, according to the release.
The joint investigation included the purchase or potential sale of 79 counterfeit tickets and parking passes for approximately $10,000, according to a news release from the police department.
Police also recovered a computer, printer and the same photo-grade paper that was used to make the fraudulent tickets from Daniels’ girlfriend’s home, according to the release.
Daniels also allegedly stated that he made the tickets at a Manhattan copy store, according to the release.
They are each charged with 79 counts of second-degree forgery, 79 counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, three counts of criminal possession of a forgery devices, one count of criminal possession of computer-related material, 79 counts of second-degree trademark counterfeiting and one count of fifth-degree conspiracy.
Daniels and Fladger are being held, and it was unclear Tuesday night whether they had lawyers.
If convicted, they could each face a maximum of seven years in prison.