5 Years in Prison for Matawan Man Who Ran NY Giants Ticket Scam

MATAWAN, NJ - A Matawan man who ran a New York Giants ticket scam was sentenced to five years in state prison Friday, but not before he asked the judge if he could withdraw his guilty plea, the Monmouth County prosecutor's office said. John Gorman, 49, of Aberdeen Road in Matawan, admitted in May 2016 he conned a number of people out of thousands of dollars with a scam to sell season tickets for the New York Giants football team at MetLife Stadium.

The scam followed the team’s 2008 Super Bowl win. Gorman was sentenced to five years in a New Jersey state prison by Ocean County Superior Court Judge Patricia B. Roe Friday after she denied his request to withdraw his guilty plea to one count of second degree theft by deception.

A 2014 investigation conducted by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office revealed that from November 9, 2008 until July 31, 2010, Gorman fraudulently represented that he had New York Giants' Personal Seat Licenses (PSLs) for sale, prosecutors said. A PSL is a one-time fee that provides a license to individuals enabling them to make subsequent purchases of season tickets. The PSL was set up by the Giants Stadium, LLC to coincide with the opening of MetLife Stadium in 2010.

Gorman, formerly a season ticket holder himself, met many of his victims by advertising the PSLs for sale on Craigslist. He displayed documents to the victims which indicated that he had 28 PSLs available, and continued with his scheme even after being told by the Giants that he was only eligible to purchase two PSLs.

As part of his con, Gorman took advantage of the fact that the New York Giants Director of Ticketing is also named John Gorman, purposely leading several of his victims to believe that he was in fact employed by the Giants and convincing them that the deal was legitimate, the county prosecutor said. The victims paid Gorman in full but never received their seats for the 2010 football season. As part of his sentence, Judge Roe ordered Gorman to pay the full $116,550 to his sixteen victims.

Gorman was represented by Todd D. Palumbo, Esq., of Cranford.