A Nebraska man has been sentenced to 2 ½ years in federal prison and ordered to pay a six-figure restitution payment for selling reprints of vintage sports cards as if they were the real thing.
Thomas Martin Beatty, 45, was sentenced for mail fraud and money laundering in Omaha Wednesday.
Joe Kelly, U.S. Attorney for the District of Nebraska, says Beatty sold bought reprints of Mickey Mantle’s 1952 and ’57 Topps cards and fake rookie cards of Bill Russell and Joe Namath, then sold them to an unsuspecting buyer for more than $100,000. The incidents occurred last year.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell Mayer stated in court papers that after receiving the money from a Belmont, MA buyer via wire transfer in August 2017, Beatty sent the four reprints through the Postal Service. Charging documents say a few days after shipping the package, Beatty then withdrew over $64,000 from his bank account.
He was indicted by a grand jury last February.
In addition to the prison time and $142,000 restitution, U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp also ordered Beatty to be on supervised release for three months.
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