MIAMI (CelebrityAccess) — Two men have pleaded guilty to federal charges of mail and wire fraud, as well as aggravated identify theft for their role in defrauding a promoter as part of a fake concert scheme.
According to the Department of Justice, Terrance Morris, 41, of Missouri City, Texas, Blake Kelly, 36, of Los Angeles, California, pleaded guilty of conspiring together to misrepresent themselves as famous artists.
The two men created several false and fraudulent concert performance contracts forging the signatures of the music recording artists and accepting investments to produce a music festival.
Additionally, during a video call, Morris and Kelly had an accomplice pose as a famous artist identified by the Justice Department as J.B. to convince their victim of the star’s involvement in the scheme.
The Justice Department stated that Morris and Kelly fraudulently obtained $1,350,000 from the victim of the scheme, along with a separate $200,000 check made payable to J.B., that Morris then deposited into his own personal account. While the Justice Department did not reveal the identity of ‘J.B.’ the Miami Herald reported that the name the fraudsters used was Justin Bieber.
Morris’s sentencing is scheduled for May 2, at 1:30 p.m. Kelly’s sentencing is scheduled for March 28, 1:00 p.m. Both men face up to 20 years in prison for the conspiracy charge, along with an additional two years in prison for the identity theft charge.
