Posted on 06/20/2012 9:17:48 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
A 28-year-old Milwaukee man deceived two sports agents into believing he was a professional baseball player signed with the Toronto Blue Jays and illegally solicited nearly $6,000 worth of property from the agents, according to a complaint filed by the Milwaukee County district attorney's office.
The agents said they never once met the fictitious professional baseball player, Montaous Walton, in person.
A preliminary hearing for Walton is scheduled for Thursday.
Walton set his hoax in motion in August 2011 when he emailed California-based sports agent Travis Bell, 48, claiming he was a roster invitee to the Blue Jays' 2012 spring training, according to the complaint. Walton gave Bell, the CEO of the Seven Bridges Group, his actual Milwaukee address, but he lied about his age, knocking off four years.
Walton also contacted several media outlets, including the Journal Sentinel, trying to get coverage of his story.
Bell and his multimillion-dollar company began to represent Walton in September, Bell said in an interview. Seven Bridges purchased Walton a $400 flight to allegedly attend a training camp, paid Walton's cellphone bill and worked to secure him endorsement opportunities. Over the course of four months, Bell's operation supplied Walton with cash, goods and services worth $4,539.
Meanwhile, "we kept pressuring him for the contract he allegedly had with the Toronto Blue Jays and he kept putting us off," Bell said.
When Walton finally emailed Bell a contract in December, Bell and his colleagues realized instantly it had been fabricated.
Bell said he confronted the phony baseball player.
"He said he was sorry - he wasn't going to let it happen again," Bell recalled.
But Walton didn't stop there, according to the complaint.
(Excerpt) Read more at jsonline.com ...
Wisconsin — something different ping
FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.
Doesn’t Obama have a son who plays baseball?
Show me the money!
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