HOUSTON, Texas — The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that 49-year-old Derrick Langford of California has been sentenced to prison for his role in orchestrating a ticketing scam across the United States—one of which involved a Texas A&M football game.
Langford pleaded guilty on Aug. 24, 2023.
A federal judge has ordered Langford to serve 24 months in a federal prison followed by one year of parole.
"For years, Langford engaged in a multi-level fraud," U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani said.
"In doing so, he victimized identity theft victims, unsuspecting internet buyers and, ultimately, the venues, from football stadiums to music arenas, who bore the monetary loss. But the perceived anonymity of the internet did not protect him. His scheme unraveled thanks to the efforts of the 12th Man Foundation at Texas A&M University."
In Langford's plea, he said he used emails to obtain stolen credit card information from victims throughout the country. Officials said that just one of Langford's fake email accounts contained the personal and financial information of over 75 victims.
After getting the data, he then used false identities to buy tickets to events at various venues only to re-sell them on resale sites.
The DOJ pointed out one such event on Sept. 8, 2018—the Texas A&M football game against Clemson.
Authorities said Texas A&M discovered the scam and invalidated the tickets, but some tickets had already been purchased by unsuspecting buyers, causing the university to incur 100% of the loss.
An investigation by the FBI and the Texas A&M University Police Department ultimately led to Langford's arrest.
Officials said he was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a federal prison in the near future.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Quincy Ollison and Belinda Beek prosecuted the case.
