Movie Prop Collecting with Jason DeBord's Original Prop Blog Film & TV Prop, Costume, Hollywood Memorablia Pop Culture Resource

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12-Year Prison Sentence for $23 Million Sports Memorabilia Fraud Scheme

As reported in the Chicago Tribune (“Collector given 12 years in prison for selling phony sports memorabilia“), John Rogers of Arkansas received a long sentence following his 45-minute statement to the court asking for leniency, at one point stating “I don’t deserve a break, but I’m asking you for one”.  Rogers plead guilty to one count of wire fraud in March.  Judge Dirkin said his fraud scheme was “breathtaking” and that Rogers “literally told thousands of lies to honest people to have them part with their money”. [Read more…]

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California Assembly Continues To Confuse and Confound Marketplace with New Legislative “Fixes” to Autograph Law

The Original Prop Blog is more confused than ever with the ever evolving and changing law in California pertaining to the sale and purchase of autographed memorabilia.  Governor Jerry Brown signed new changes into law in October, and rather than starting over with a new law that makes sense, they continue to tinker with the existing one which is just a terribly written (though well-intended) piece of legislation.  Honestly, it’s gotten to the point where reading these bills and referencing back to the previous laws that the new fixes are supposed to… fix…  just continue to make things more and more confusing.  Confusing isn’t a strong enough word.  Confounding?  [Read more…]

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California Assembly & Senate Continue To Confuse Marketplace with New Legislative “Fixes” to Autograph Law

In early 2016, I wrote a lengthy critique of the then proposed new “autograph anti-fraud legislation” introduced to the California Assembly.  That bill was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, and sustained vocal opposition to the law continues, along with confusion in the marketplace in California.  Government being government, there are now two different legislative “fixes” in the works that don’t address the myriad of problems that the terrible law put into effect.  Additionally, Pacific Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit on behalf of Book Passage and Bill Petrocelli back in May, with the suit intended to challenge the “law that made the sale of autographed books unconscionably difficult”. [Read more…]

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California State Assemblymember Todd Gloria Introduces AB 228 To Rectify California Assembly Bill AB 1570’s Autograph Anti-Fraud Legislation

It was nearly a year ago to the day that I wrote about California Assemblymember Ling Ling Chang’s California Assembly Bill AB 1570, created as anti-fraud legislation.  At that time, I wrote a lengthy analysis of the bill, pointing out problematic facets of the then proposed legislation that Governor Jerry Brown signed into law last October.  Once law, other businesses and mainstream media outlets began to complain about key elements of the law that would appear to have some consequences not anticipated by those who create it and enacted it into law.  Ling Ling Chang lost her bid for a State Senate seat in November, so there was uncertainty as to who would take up the responsibility of fixing the problems with the law.  It would appear that Assemblymember Todd Gloria of the 78th District (serving Coronado, Del Mar, Imperial Beach, San Diego and Solana Beach) has come forward to attempt to create a follow-up bill to resolve some of the issues that critics have identified, in the form of Assembly Bill AB 228. [Read more…]

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Los Angeles Times Article Picks Apart New Autograph Anti-Fraud Legislation (California Assembly Bill AB 1570)

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As a follow-up to my prior articles on the topic of the new Autograph Anti-Fraud Legislation (California Assembly Bill AB 1570) , Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times has published his own piece highlighting issues with the law and real world impacts on California businesses, independent bookstores in particular.  It is a great read and illustrates the disconnect between lawmakers and businesses in California, regardless of the pro-consumer intentions of the legislation. [Read more…]

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Autograph Anti-Fraud Legislation (California Assembly Bill AB 1570) Now Law

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Back in January, I wrote about Mark Hamill & Assemblywoman Ling Ling Chang’s efforts to pass autograph anti-fraud legislation in California in the form of Assembly Bill AB 1570.  California Governor Jerry Brown signed this into law last month.  While I applauded the intention and efforts behind the proposed law back in January, I outlined a series of issues with it.  Apparently, I am not alone with my concerns, as Brian Doherty’s piece on Reason.com also lists some problems with this new law as written. [Read more…]

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Former Mastro Auctions President Doug Allen Sentenced To 57 Months In Federal Prison

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As mentioned last week, Federal prosecutors were seeking a four year prison sentence for Doug Allen, the former President of disgraced sports memorabilia auction house Mastro Auctions.  U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman went further than that in the case of shill bidding and fake memorabilia, sentencing Doug Allen to 57 months, a much stiffer sentence than the 20 months co-defendant Bill Mastro is serving.  Allen attempted to obstruct the FBI investigation after learning of it, which would seem to have earned him a longer prison sentence. [Read more…]

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Daily News Updates Their Ongoing Investigation on Mastro Auctions Fraud Case; Prosecutors Seek Four Year Prison Sentence for Doug Allen

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Michael O’Keeffe with the New York Daily News continues to chronicle the ongoing saga surrounding Mastro Auctions and the Justice Department’s prosecution of principals from the sports memorabilia auction house, based on the FBI investigation that began in 2007.  Yesterday, prosecutor filed papers with the Chicago federal court seeking a 57 month prison term for former Mastro Auctions president, Doug Allen, as a result of his “outright contempt” for law enforcement. [Read more…]