Sachin Kumar entered into a plea agreement for restitution.
AB Wire
NEW YORK: An Indian American pre-dental and biology student at the University of Tampa, Sachin Kumar, 22, has agreed to a plea agreement with federal prosecutors on restitution in a scam that involved selling fraudulent events tickets over the Internet sales platform StubHub, and making money off it. Kumar, who is from New York, may be sentenced to prison for as long as five years.
Kumar, who is in his final semester at the University of Tampa, lived it up a little in 2013. His Facebook page shows trips to India, Dubai, Chicago, Miami and New York, reported the Tampa Bay Times. Though he griped about tuition costs, he boasted of a leather couch and a 55-inch TV: “Life is good,” he wrote.
Kumar however lived that ‘good’ life through nefarious means. He enriched himself by selling fraudulent events tickets over StubHub, using accounts set up in at least one fictitious name: “Lester Salmon.”
Kumar collected $49,121, and StubHub spent $172,047 furnishing victims of the scam with replacement tickets, according to a plea agreement Kumar signed. Had all tickets sold, he could have netted $279,949, the record states.
Attorney Mark O’Brien, who represents Kumar, said others were involved and his client got only a portion of the proceeds. Kumar is the only participant the government has charged, according to the Times.
O’Brien said Kumar regrets his “youthful indiscretion.” He was 19 years old in January and February of 2013, dates singled out in the formal charge.
“He has since accepted responsibility for his actions and agreed to pay restitution,” O’Brien was quoted as saying by the Times. “Mr. Kumar now awaits his fate at sentencing and hopes to be afforded the opportunity to finish his last semester of college and move forward with his life.”
Kumar has yet to face a federal judge, though his plea agreement is dated October 8. It wasn’t filed until January 6. He was expected to make an initial appearance, seek bond and plead guilty in February, but his attorney reported that Kumar was hospitalized after a January 15 hit-and-run car crash in the Dominican Republic. That put the court case on hold.
O’Brien wrote that Kumar had suffered several broken bones and couldn’t travel until at least June, resetting the court appearance until early next week. Then, last Wednesday, O’Brien delivered more grim news.
In a motion to Magistrate Judge Thomas B. McCoun III, the attorney wrote that Kumar underwent surgery, fell and broke more bones and now requires more surgery. O’Brien asked to delay the hearing until January. He told a reporter Kumar is hospitalized in Long Island, N.Y., but declined to say where, citing patient privacy laws. The University of Tampa expects him back in August, a spokesman said.
Under a deal worked out with prosecutors, Kumar would plead guilty to a single count of use of a fictitious name, a federal crime punishable by no more than five years in prison.
As described in the record, the scheme relied in part on change of address notices filed with the U.S. Postal Service in the name of a fictitious seller. They caused payments to be rerouted to addresses and post office boxes associated with Kumar.
He posted more than 100 ticket ads and submitted more than 180 changes of address, the agreement states, reported the Times. The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.