A Concord sports memorabilia dealer pleaded guilty Monday to wire fraud after he was caught selling fake sports collectibles, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Daniel Damato, 42, was charged with one count of wire fraud in October and admitted to trying to obstruct the FBI’s investigation into him, prosecutors said.
Between 2022 and 2024, Damato doctored and invented false provenance to valuable items in order to make them look like authentic sports collectibles, the DOJ said. He would then inflate the prices and sell them to people.
Damato admitted to selling a baseball bat in 2023 for $100,000 that he said was used by Willie Mays in the 1954 World Series; in reality, the bat was a factory error and an inch shorter than the one actually used by Mays. Once the buyer sent Damato the hundred grand, Damato also never sent him anything, prosecutors said.
He also sold things like a Mays jersey that was never worn by the baseball great, taking in $50,000 for that con.
The FBI raided Damato’s home in October 2024 and the DOJ said he contacted at least one potential witness in his case to try and obstruct the investigation.
Damato has a sentencing hearing scheduled for March and he is facing up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000, prosecutors said.
Geez, guy sends you 100K for a fake bat and you don’t give it to him?
So we let out people that have been arrested for rape, murder, arson, robbery, assault, drug dealing, child pedos and we send the pretend baseball guy to prison for 20 years. Righhhhhhhhht.