! FORGER SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON

SOME GOOD NEWS - Stephen Lyons, a solo forger operating out of Rhode Island who
sold on ebay, was convicted on Friday in Federal court in San Diego of forging
autographs. He sold sports and entertainment autographs. His actions received
attention from the FBI and he was just convicted. The FBI is now investigating
solo operators. This forger openly wept in court when the guilty plea was read.
The jury was only out for four hours before convicting him on TEN COUNTS. The
judge remanded him to prison immediately after conviction. Two expert witnesses
for the Federal Government were Stephen Koschal noted authenticator and Anthony
Daniels who played C3PO in Star Wars movies. Mr. Lyons' attorneys had actually
used the argument that he was "writing" the stars autographs so he could feel
"closer" to his favorite stars. WOW, what a crock! Mr. Lyons was just
sentenced to 36 months in Federal prison. The FBI is watching this business
closely. FORGERS BEWARE.

That's great news. Now hopefully, they'll keep getting more and more
till the major news picks it up and stymies future wannabes from doing
the same stuff. The problem with getting this guy is it's not
national news.... so the ones forging may not know there is a crack
down.

On 06 Apr 2004 15:22:13 GMT, (Richard) wrote:

SOME GOOD NEWS - Stephen Lyons, a solo forger operating out of Rhode Island who
sold on ebay, was convicted on Friday in Federal court in San Diego of forging
autographs. He sold sports and entertainment autographs. His actions received
attention from the FBI and he was just convicted. The FBI is now investigating
solo operators. This forger openly wept in court when the guilty plea was read.
The jury was only out for four hours before convicting him on TEN COUNTS. The
judge remanded him to prison immediately after conviction. Two expert witnesses
for the Federal Government were Stephen Koschal noted authenticator and Anthony
Daniels who played C3PO in Star Wars movies. Mr. Lyons' attorneys had actually
used the argument that he was "writing" the stars autographs so he could feel
"closer" to his favorite stars. WOW, what a crock! Mr. Lyons was just
sentenced to 36 months in Federal prison. The FBI is watching this business
closely. FORGERS BEWARE.




www.starwarsautographcollecting.com
http://dahoov2.topcities.com

Koschal is the best authenticator in the business. I just wish he didn't charge
$35/sig.

Good! Another one bites the dust.

--

Mike
Gummby3

~~ Star Collector ~~
www.star-collector.net
Autograph Authentication Guide
www.star-collector.net/authenticationguide.htm

"Richard" wrote in message
...
SOME GOOD NEWS - Stephen Lyons, a solo forger operating out of Rhode
Island who
sold on ebay, was convicted on Friday in Federal court in San Diego of
forging
autographs. He sold sports and entertainment autographs. His actions
received
attention from the FBI and he was just convicted. The FBI is now
investigating
solo operators. This forger openly wept in court when the guilty plea was
read.
The jury was only out for four hours before convicting him on TEN COUNTS.
The
judge remanded him to prison immediately after conviction. Two expert
witnesses
for the Federal Government were Stephen Koschal noted authenticator and
Anthony
Daniels who played C3PO in Star Wars movies. Mr. Lyons' attorneys had
actually
used the argument that he was "writing" the stars autographs so he could
feel
"closer" to his favorite stars. WOW, what a crock! Mr. Lyons was just
sentenced to 36 months in Federal prison. The FBI is watching this
business
closely. FORGERS BEWARE.




---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.647 / Virus Database: 414 - Release Date: 3/31/2004

I just wish he didn't charge
$35/sig.

Well you pay for quality. And since you aren't likely to care about his
authenticating some little known autograph, chances are the auto is he dealing
with has a lot of value.

Dahoov - that is why I post this news here and get it out as much as I can.
Disseminating this info will discourage the next slime bucket from picking up a
pen.

Richard Simon

Yeah, this is better than not posting it for sure, but wish it could
be "bigger" news. It's not getting the attention it deserves. I
think Ebay should take more of a role. Maybe they can have a
forger/banned from selling list or something. But they'll never do
anything like that. It's all about the money.

On 07 Apr 2004 15:35:45 GMT, (Richard) wrote:

Dahoov - that is why I post this news here and get it out as much as I can.
Disseminating this info will discourage the next slime bucket from picking up a
pen.

Richard Simon



www.starwarsautographcollecting.com
http://dahoov2.topcities.com

Pardon me for my ignorance...but isn't $35/sig a pretty decent price?
I don't know why, I thought authenticators usually charged a lot more
than that...of course, it could depend on the area of expertise that
is desired.

On 07 Apr 2004 14:43:46 GMT, (Bcoton) wrote:

I just wish he didn't charge
$35/sig.

Well you pay for quality. And since you aren't likely to care about his
authenticating some little known autograph, chances are the auto is he dealing
with has a lot of value.

Well, I guess that would depend on whose autograph it is!

On Thu, 08 Apr 2004 03:01:40 GMT, Gunther wrote:

Pardon me for my ignorance...but isn't $35/sig a pretty decent price?
I don't know why, I thought authenticators usually charged a lot more
than that...of course, it could depend on the area of expertise that
is desired.

On 07 Apr 2004 14:43:46 GMT, (Bcoton) wrote:

I just wish he didn't charge
$35/sig.

Well you pay for quality. And since you aren't likely to care about his
authenticating some little known autograph, chances are the auto is he dealing
with has a lot of value.



www.starwarsautographcollecting.com
http://dahoov2.topcities.com