HOUSTON — A California man behind a nationwide ticket scam involving concerts, college football and other sporting events was sentenced Thursday.
A federal judge in Houston gave Derrick Langford, 49, the maximum sentence of 24 months behind bars, U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani announced.
Langford admitted he used emails to steal credit card information from more than 75 victims all over the United States. He then created fake identities to buy tickets for events and then re-sold them online.
Langford's scheme began to unravel when he scammed fans at the Texas A&M football game against Clemson in 2018, according to the feds. TAMU's 12th Man Foundation discovered the fraud and invalidated the tickets. However, some had already been sold to unsuspecting buyers so the university lost thousands of dollars.
“For years, Langford engaged in a multi-level fraud,” Hamdani said. “In doing so, he victimized identity theft victims, unsuspecting internet buyers and, ultimately, the venues, from football stadiums to music arenas, who bore the monetary loss."
The FBI conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Texas A&M University Police Department.
