A Manhattan federal jury on Wednesday convicted a Redmond man of wire fraud and conspiracy in a yearslong scheme that prosecutors say used fake grading labels to sell sports and Pokémon trading cards at wildly inflated prices, defrauding buyers out of more than $2 million, according to Law360 and court records.
The jury found Anthony Curcio guilty after about four hours of deliberations.
U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams scheduled sentencing for May 13.
Wire fraud carries a potential maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison, though the court has not yet determined Curcio’s sentence.
According to an unsealed federal indictment, Curcio and co-defendant Iosif Bondarchuk carried out the scheme from at least 2022 through May 2024 by falsely claiming that trading cards had received high grades from a prominent card authentication company, identified in court records as PSA, or Professional Sports Authenticator.
Prosecutors said card grading plays a critical role in the collectibles market, with even small differences in condition leading to enormous swings in value.
The indictment cites a 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan #57 card as an example: a version graded as an 8 can be worth between $6,000 and $7,000, while a card graded a perfect 10 can be valued at roughly $185,000 to more than $200,000.
Investigators said Curcio advertised cards as having top PSA grades even though PSA had never assigned those ratings.
To make the cards appear legitimate, prosecutors said Curcio placed them in PSA-style tamper-resistant plastic cases and added fraudulent labels, barcodes and certification numbers showing inflated grades.
One of the key examples outlined in the indictment involves a 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan card that Curcio advertised for sale in May 2022 for $171,700.
The card was displayed in a PSA-style case labeled as a “10,” even though PSA had not graded the card at that level, according to prosecutors.
Court records say Curcio and Bondarchuk sold and attempted to sell fraudulently graded cards through an online marketplace based in Manhattan, as well as at in-person card shops, auctions and card shows.
Prosecutors allege the defendants defrauded buyers through at least $225,000 in sales on that marketplace alone, with the platform later compensating some victims for their losses.
The scheme was not limited to sports cards.
Prosecutors said Curcio and his co-conspirators also misrepresented the grades of Pokémon cards, including 1999 Venusaur and Charizard cards.
In one instance detailed in the indictment, a fraudulently graded Venusaur card was sold in an undercover law enforcement purchase for $10,500 and later mailed to Manhattan after the payment was wired to a bank account controlled by Curcio.
Additional cards cited in the indictment include a Stephen Curry rookie card and a card featuring Larry Bird, Julius Erving and Magic Johnson, all of which prosecutors say were falsely advertised with higher grades than they actually received.
When buyers complained or demanded refunds, prosecutors said Curcio and Bondarchuk sometimes feigned ignorance and issued refunds, but later attempted to sell the same cards again using fraudulent labels.
Even after being shown confirmations from PSA that the grades were false, the defendants continued attempting to resell the cards, according to court records.
The indictment also describes efforts to conceal the scheme.
Prosecutors said Curcio and Bondarchuk used fake names and false identities, including aliases such as “Brendan Wooley” and “John Steel,” and provided misleading information to victims about who they were dealing with.
In one instance, a victim was falsely told a phone number belonged to a Washington-based leader of the Hells Angels motorcycle club, according to the indictment.
Investigators said Curcio ordered specialized tools and materials online to create forged card cases and labels, including barcode printers, engraving tools, polishing equipment and lock-cutting kits.
Curcio remains scheduled to return to court in May for sentencing.