How A South Florida Con Man Swindled Free Sneakers From Multiple NBA Stars

Dent7 years ago

Remember that movie where FBI Agent Tom Hanks was chasing con man Leo around the country while he pretended to be a pilot/lawyer/doctor? Well in the spirit of 2017 — the year wherein every movie gets a remake — that same plot has resurfaced. Only this time, the con man is a notorious Miami swindler who is 7,000 times less successful. 

From Miami Herald:

Two months ago, police arrested a notorious South Florida con man on accusations that he impersonated the manager of singer Adele to try to get tickets to a Miami hip-hop concert.

But his scam targeted a host of other sports stars and celebrities over the years, prosecutors said Tuesday in filing new criminal charges against Justin Jackson and his wife.

Definitely recommend checking out the link for this one; the wife’s mugshot is gold. I’ve never seen a woman so ready to roll on her man. You can literally witness the loyalty leaving her eyes.

Justin Jackson and his wife have been (allegedly) trying to Bonnie and Clyde their way into rubbing elbows with celebrities with the intention of getting some free shit out of it. Interesting plan. Turns out, though, that they really went for it… and probably a bit too hard. No starting out small for this power couple. They just blindly dove right in, presumably with no plan at all.

I’m not the utmost authority on terrible cover stories, but theirs all seem pretty bad. Justin (allegedly) claimed to be Adele’s manager, one of Obama’s White House aides, and even Oprah’s nephew — poor efforts all around. Yeah, and everybody definitely believes my supermodel girlfriend lives in Canada, too.

Here are some highlights from their various con attempts:

From Miami Herald:

▪ Offered Adele concert tickets in exchange for sneakers from basketball players Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook and Bismack Biyombo, among others, purportedly for an auction to benefit charities. He succeeded in getting sneakers shipped to him from NBA stars Paul George, Victor Oladipo and Richard Hamilton.

▪ Created a fake email for the manager of soccer superstar Lionel Messi, in an effort to “add a layer of verisimilitude” to his request to get sneakers from NBA stars.

▪ Asked representatives for music stars Chris Brown, Tory Lanez and Katy Perry if the singers would make birthday videos for a “dear friend.” The requests didn’t work.
  
▪ Got tickets to attend — and go backstage — at a concert for the rapper Fabolous. He also tried, apparently unsuccessfully, to get tickets to attend shows by Lauryn Hill and Carrie Underwood.

For the most part, it was tough for the couple to get anyone to bite. And what they did get out of it? Not that impressive. You’re telling me that some sneaks and tickets to a Fabo concert are worth prison time? Fabo? The guy who made like two hit singles when I was in middle school? I’ll pass.

Honestly, I am a bit surprised they weren’t more successful with this elementary-minded venture. If anyone ever used the word verisimilitude in a conversation with me, my brain would be in such a pretzel that I’d have to give them what they wanted.

Sadly, it was no happy ending for these two lovebirds. The honorable Miami police were able to successfully administer a sting operation and catch them in the act. A fucking sting, like this is The Wire. That’s what it took to capture these hardened criminals. 

Hopefully Mr. Jackson and his lady have learned a valuable lesson: if you’re going to resort to a life of crime, at least be semi-good at it..

[via Miami Herald]

Image via Shutterstock