OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man has been imprisoned for selling counterfeit Mickey Mantles and other trading cards online.
Federal prosecutors say 45-year-old Thomas Beatty Jr. was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Omaha to 30 months and ordered to pay restitution of $142,000. He also must serve three years of supervised release after leaving prison.
Beatty had pleaded guilty to mail fraud and money laundering.
Prosecutors say that from June 2017 through November 2017, Beatty advertised and sold online what were described as rare and valuable sports trading cards. Among them were two of former New York Yankees great Mickey Mantle, one of Super Bowl-winning quarterback Joe Namath of the New York Jets and one of basketball legend Bill Russell.
Prosecutors say the cards were counterfeits worth less than $10 each.