North Texas authorities arrested two people for selling fake sports memorabilia online, officials said.
MCKINNEY, Texas — Signed Michael Jordan jerseys. An Alex Rodriguez autographed batting helmet. Dozens of boxes of authentic helmets and footballs and shoes and photos.
Except they were all fake, North Texas authorities said.
Now, a man and a woman are in custody.
The Collin County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday announced the arrests of Wendell Gidden-Rogers and Lisa Skolnick on charges of trademark counterfeiting of $30,000 to $150,000, a third-degree felony.
Investigators executed a search warrant Wednesday at a home in the 6000 block of Saint Michael Drive in McKinney, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
Officials said the warrant was obtained as part of an investigation into the online sale of “fraudulently manufactured and authenticated sports memorabilia.”
When investigators searched the home, they found “a significant amount of evidence supporting the investigation,” including “fictitious certificates of authentication and thousands of sports memorabilia items that were falsely represented as genuine.”
The sheriff’s office posted several photos of the allegedly fake memorabilia, which included numerous framed jerseys purported to be autographed, stacks of signed helmets and footballs and other miscellaneous items, including autographed shoes, New York Yankees bases and pictures of boxing legend Muhammad Ali.