6 charged in crime ring targeting reselling tickets obtained for free from nonprofit, authorities say
Pennsylvania State Police investigators said they cracked a complex organized crime ring where people targeted free tickets to professional and college games.
The tickets were meant for disadvantaged kids, and state police said the conspiracy went on for years.
What happened?
Inside Tickets for Kids Charities in Blawnox, there are pictures of kids in need who benefit from the non-profit organization's mission.
"We exist solely to provide experiences to underserved children that they wouldn't otherwise be able to get," executive director Brandice Miller said.
"Children also see career opportunities when they are at events," Miller added. "They get to experience joy, it gives them a sense of belonging."
State police have filed criminal charges against people accused of stealing those experiences from kids by scamming Tickets for Kids Charities.
"The individuals and companies that were being charged exploited Tickets for Kids by utilizing other non-profit organizations to obtain those free donated tickets from Tickets for Kids," Trooper Rocco Gagliardi said on Thursday.
Six people, a Pittsburgh ticket sales business and a Johnstown non-profit organization face charges in the scheme.
They obtained the free tickets to Steelers, Pirates, Penguins and Pitt games and "either sold them or gave them to their friends or family," Gagliardi said.
From 2019 to 2024, court documents say one of the suspects took 7,235 tickets valued at more than $207,000. In another case, state police say a suspect fraudulently ordered 536 tickets to various events worth more than $16,000.
"I find it very disheartening that there are individuals out there who would be looking to take advantage of an organization that does work like we do," Miller said.
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