http://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/justin-bieber-performs-live-for-fans-at-brisbane-news-photo/452249693
A New York man was sentenced to between five and 10 years in prison for stealing millions of dollars by pretending he was a promoter and booking agent for Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and other pop stars.
39-year-old Meceo McEaddy had already pleaded guilty to 21 counts of grand larceny and fraud, among other charges, for a scam in which he and partner, 48-year-old Sylvester Vincent Carroll, promised event producers a performance by a major recording artist and then pocketed large deposits without delivering.
In addition to Bieber, the pair also accepted money for supposedly booking Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Mary J. Blige and other performers for concerts and private parties. They also admitted to scamming $825,000 from a Brazilian company that believed they were arranging Rihanna concerts in Rio de Janeiro.
According to Reuters, in some instances victims of McEaddy’s scams began promoting the performance by the big star they thought they had booked, only to learn that they had been scammed after getting cease-and-desist notices from the real performer’s management company.
McEaddy was sentenced in Manhattan on Tuesday and was ordered to pay $550,750 in restitution to his victims. His co-defendant, Sylvester Vincent Carroll was sentenced to between three and nine years in prison earlier this month and ordered to pay $2,015,000 in restitution.
