TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Would You Trust This Man to Sell Super Bowl Tickets on Internet?

Would You Trust This Man to Sell Super Bowl Tickets on Internet?

Monty Solomon (monty@roscom.com)
Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:15:24 -0400

Would you trust this man to sell you Super Bowl tickets on the
Internet? Enough people did. That's why Michael Deppe is facing
charges that he bilked them and others out of $370,000.

By Connie Paige, Globe Correspondent | April 23, 2006

The New England Patriots were three days away from the Super Bowl.

But, for about 10 fans, the suspense was not at the stadium in
Jacksonville but at the airport in Orlando.

They each had shelled out about $7,500 for a pair of seats to last
year's game through a dealer they found on the Internet. The tickets,
they say, were supposed to have been sent to their homes but never
arrived. So, they flew in on faith, relying on assurances from the
young ticket-seller that he would have the tickets at the airport.

Now, at a Hertz counter, they had cornered the 20-year-old man just
in from Boston who had their cash and, they hoped, their tickets.

When the seller tried to put them off, one of the buyers called the
police on a cellphone. An officer arrived but refused to make an
arrest, saying the seller had until the start of the game to deliver
the tickets.

Then, in a twist that stunned the angry crowd, the young man turned
to the officer and asked for protection. She shooed away the buyers,
and the man drove off in his rental car.

Another close call for Michael R. Deppe.

Tomorrow, the resident, at various times, of Stow, Shrewsbury,
Marlborough, and Hudson is scheduled to go on trial in US District
Court in Worcester. He is accused of failing to deliver to 68 people
goods worth $370,000 in Internet-related transactions. Among the
witnesses may be a woman who was among those left standing at the
Hertz counter 14 months ago.

Deppe faces six charges of fraud stemming from the Super Bowl
incident. He has pleaded guilty to 10 other federal charges involving
merchandise sold over the Internet. Neither he nor his lawyer, Steven
Rappaport of Lowell, would talk about the case for this story.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/04/23/would_you_trust_this_man_to_sell_you_super_bowl_tickets_on_the_internet/

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