Posted By:
WhenItWasAHobbyJanuary 17, 2003
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
San Diego, California
United States Attorney
Carol C. Lam
For Further Information, Contact: Assistant U. S. Attorney Melanie K. Pierson (619) 557-5685
For Immediate Release
NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY
United States Attorney Carol C. Lam announced today that a local firm and its officers pled guilty before United States Magistrate Judge Louisa S. Porter to the felony charge of mail fraud in connection with the sale of fraudulent sports cards. The firm, When It Was A Game, Inc. ("WIWAG"), has offices in San Diego, California, and from 1998 to the present was engaged in the business of buying and selling both graded and ungraded sports cards. Co-defendants John Slight and Craig Kreider are the co-owners of the company.
The quality of a sports card can be graded by an independent grading company on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest quality. A card that is graded as a 10 is typically sold for over twice as much as a card graded as a 9. When an independent grading company assesses a sports card, it assigns a grade to the card and seals the card and a label indicating the grade, in a plexiglass case, called a "slab". The seal on the slab is intended to be permanent.
In connection with their guilty pleas, the defendants admitted that they would sometimes remove cards that had been graded as 10 or 9 from the slab and replace them with lower quality cards. The lower quality cards would then be sold by the defendants in the slabs which bore the label falsely stating the higher grade. The defendants intended to deceive buyers into believing that the lower quality cards were actually of higher grade, thereby fraudulently inflating their value.
Specifically, the defendants further acknowledged that on August 21, 2002, they submitted an Upper Deck SP Authentic Series sports card of Bonzi Wells to an independent grader. The card was marked by Upper Deck as card number 0946 of 3500 cards produced. This card was graded as a "10", placed in a slab bearing certification number 40077235, and returned to the defendants on September 11, 2002. Thereafter, on September 22, 2002, a Bonzi Wells card, bearing certificate number 40077235 from the independent grading company and allegedly graded as a "10" was sold by the defendants to an individual in Spring, Texas. However, the card that was in the slab when purchased by that individual was a lower quality card, number 0594 of 3500.
The next appearance date for the defendants is June 25, 2003, at 8:30 a.m. before United States District Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz for acceptance of the plea and sentencing.
DEFENDANTS
When It Was A Game, Inc.
San Diego, California
Incorporated in California, 1998
John Slight
San Diego, California
Craig Kreider
San Diego, California
SUMMARY OF CHARGE
Mail Fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341
Maximum Penalty (for individuals): 5 yrs. in custody and/or $250,000 fine
Maximum Penalty (for corporation): $1 million fine
AGENCY
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Official News Release from the Department of Justice