NEW YORK (AP) — An 82-year-old Colorado man was charged Wednesday with selling and trading fake Michael Jordan basketball cards in a scheme that prosecutors said made him more than $800,000 over four years.
Mayo Gilbert McNeil was arrested in Denver, where he lives, after filing a complaint in Brooklyn federal court for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.
McNeil has been accused of conducting several fraudulent deals starting in 2015, including a 2019 sale of a fake card to a victim in Manhasset, New York, for $4,500, and a 2017 deal in which he exchanged two fake cards for authentic Tom Brady football cards. .
“Mr. Michael Driscoll, Assistant Director in Charge for the FBI New York, said in a news release.
In a brief phone call, McNeil said he was released without bail after his initial appearance in US District Court in Colorado.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” he said, declining to comment at length.
Prosecutors said he would appear in a New York courtroom later.
“Alcohol enthusiast. Twitter ninja. Tv lover. Falls down a lot. Hipster-friendly coffee geek.”