HARRISBURG, PA — Three additional defendants have pleaded guilty in a fraud scheme that prosecutors say diverted more than 22,000 event tickets worth over $760,000 from a Pittsburgh-area charity serving low-income and at-risk children, bringing the total number of guilty pleas in the case to six individuals and one business entity.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said Thursday that Jacob Mazzie, Quan Britt and ticket brokerage Steel City Tickets entered guilty pleas in Allegheny County Court in connection with a scheme involving Tickets for Kids, a nonprofit that distributes free tickets to sporting events and other entertainment opportunities.
The pleas mark the latest developments in a long-running prosecution that authorities say exposed vulnerabilities in charitable ticket-distribution programs and resulted in substantial financial losses for the organization.
According to the Office of Attorney General, conspirators used businesses and other fronts to obtain tickets from the charity before reselling them for profit. Prosecutors said the scheme involved more than 22,000 tickets with a combined face value exceeding $760,000.
Mazzie, 27, pleaded guilty to felony counts of theft by deception, receiving stolen property and criminal use of a communication facility. Court records show he paid $34,119 in restitution and was sentenced to two years of probation.
Steel City Tickets pleaded guilty to felony dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity and was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine.
Britt, 49, pleaded guilty to felony counts of deceptive business practices, theft by deception, receiving stolen property and criminal use of a communication facility. He will be sentenced at a later date.
“These defendants targeted a charity that provided joyous experiences to low-income and at-risk children, and exploited the organization to line their own pockets,” Sunday said in a statement. He added that the defendants were ordered to make the organization financially whole.
The latest pleas follow guilty pleas entered earlier this year by three other defendants charged in the investigation.
Two defendants remain unresolved. Ramona Wilkes began trial Thursday, while Hope 4 Johnstown is set to stand trial in August.
The cases are being prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Organized Crime Section.
All remaining defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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