Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Selling and Counterfeiting Golf Tournament Tickets


I am a former federal prosecutor who now practices law with my oldest son in Augusta, Georgia. Augusta is the home of the famous Masters Golf Tournament. The Augusta Chronicle has just reported that 66 people were charged with improperly selling Masters tickets and badges too closely to the Augusta National during the recent Masters Golf Tournament. Georgia law generally prohibits folks from selling tickets within 2,700 feet of the sports venue and prohibits ordinary citizens from selling tickets for more than face value.
As a former federal prosecutor, I once prosecuted two different groups of businessmen for manufacturing and selling counterfeit Masters badges. It was bad enough that the men wanted to fraudulently get into the tournament themselves. But it was doubly bad that they also manufactured some decent quality fake badges for sale, too.
Thousands of fans enjoy the Masters Golf Tournament each year. Most never violate the criminal law. I guess that, as long as the tournament exists, there will always be a few people who break the law, won't there? But I guess that since I am now a criminal defense lawyer, maybe that's good for business!

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