Former California man who sold bogus memorabilia with fake celebrity autographs gets a year in prison

A former West Covina man who sold at least $250,000 in fake celebrity memorabilia with forged signatures of celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Kobe Bryant was sentenced on Monday, Sept. 29, to a year and a day in federal prison.

Anthony Tremayne, 60, during a sentencing hearing at a federal courthouse in Santa Ana after he pleaded guilty in April to a count of mail fraud, was also ordered to spend two years on supervised release following his prison term.

Tremayne, who now lives in Rosarito, Mexico, asked U.S. District Judge James V. Selna for leniency. His defense attorney unsuccessfully requested that Tremayne be sentenced to time already served for the several days he spent in custody after his initial arrest rather than spend additional time behind bars.

“I’d like to apologize for the things I did that were incorrect,” Tremayne told the federal judge.

For nearly a decade, Tremayne sold memorabilia he wrongly claimed was tied to athletes, actors, musicians and other celebrities. Judge Selna noted that those who bought the memorabilia were “disappointed” to learn it wasn’t legitimate.

“It’s not your typical fraud, but nonetheless it is fraud (against those) who bought something from you,” Selna told Tremayne.

Tremayne’s attorney said his client was prepared to immediately pay an estimated $7,737 in outstanding restitution federal prosecutors estimate that he still owes his victims. Judge Selna opted to hold off on finalizing the restitution amount until probation officials could double-check the amount.

Tremayne admitted to selling $250,000 to $550,000 in bogus signed memorabilia that he advertised nationwide as genuine. Customers were sent the memorabilia in the mail, sometimes with an authenticity certificate that Tremayne forged.

The bogus memorabilia included guitars with forged signatures from Prince and Carrie Underwood, as well as replica Stanley Cups with fake signatures from professional hockey players.

In one transaction, Tremayne sold an undercover FBI agent in Anaheim a “Keeping up with the Kardashians” poster with forged signatures from Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian for $200.

Tremayne’s attorney, Jan Edward Ronis, wrote in a sentencing brief filed with the court that Tremayne had tried to sustain his family through “legitimate” work in the sports memorabilia business. But faced with “mounting financial challenges,” the defense attorney wrote, Tremayne turned to “fraudulent sales when legitimate avenues were insufficient. …

“Taken together, the record shows that the circumstances leading to this offense were those of a man overwhelmed by stress and poor judgment, not a career criminal or someone indifferent to the law,” the defense attorney added.

Tremayne was ordered to begin serving his prison sentence by Jan. 2.