Two Los Angeles men, who photocopied badges from the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con and sold them for $120 a piece, have pleaded guilty to theft charges and were placed on probation for three years. Farhad Lame and Navid Vatankhahan pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft charges. The two 24-year-olds will also have to pay restitution to the victims as well as a $750 fine and complete ten days of public service, which will involve picking up trash on
According to The San Diego Union Tribune, Vatankhahan, who advertised the bogus tickets on Craigslist, was ordered by the court to refrain from reselling tickets during the three years of his probation.
Along with some well-publicized recent difficulties in the online purchase of tickets for the 2011 Comic-Con created by huge demand that crashed the servers, the counterfeiting of tickets highlights the incredible success of Comic-Con International, which has maxed out its 125,000 capacity every year since 2007. In spite of being wooed by venues that offer a potential for a more immediate expansion in the number of attendees, Comic-Con International announced in September that it would remain in San Diego through 2015 (see “Comic-Con Stays in San Diego”).
