Three people, including an independent contractor for Beckett Collectibles, have been charged with selling forged Jason Kelce-autographed memorabilia valued at an estimated $200,000.
Robert Capone, 51, of Philadelphia, LeeAnn Branco, 43, of Bristol, R.I., and Joseph Parenti, 39, of Cranston, R.I., were charged Wednesday with 60 felony counts, including forgery, theft, deceptive business practices and other charges, by Montgomery County (Pa.) District Attorney Kevin R. Steele.
According to the district attorney’s office, detectives and Upper Merion Township police were alerted to more than 1,100 pieces of memorabilia that featured forged signatures of Kelce, a former All-Pro Philadelphia Eagles center and Super Bowl champion in June 2024.
The forged items were purportedly signed by Kelce at the Valley Forge Casino Hotel in King of Prussia, Pa., on June 11 and 12 of last year, and later sold by Capone’s Overtime Promotions and Parenti’s Diamond Legends.
The forged memorabilia is believed to have been falsely verified by Branco, an independent contractor for Beckett Authentication Services, according to authorities. Among the 1,138 items were signed jerseys, helmets, mini helmets, hats, photos and footballs.
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Detectives and local police were contacted by Philadelphia-area sports memorabilia company TCH Humphreys LLC. The company had contracted Kelce to sign memorabilia at the Valley Forge Casino Hotel event with items legitimately signed by Kelce and authenticated by PSA.
According to the district attorney’s office, Capone, Parenti and Branco conspired to use Branco’s BAS credentials to falsely authenticate items while attending the Valley Forge event. Branco was photographed with Kelce to validate her presence at the signing. Capone is accused of attending the event to purchase a number of authentic items, while keeping other items off-site for forgeries.
Capone was arraigned Wednesday and released on $100,000 bail. A preliminary hearing for Capone is scheduled for Feb. 5.
Branco and Parenti had yet to turn themselves in as of Wednesday afternoon.
The charges against Capone, Branco and Parenti arrive less than a week after Beckett Collectibles filed a lawsuit against Branco and Parenti.
“Branco and Parenti have conflicting stories on what happened. But one thing remains certain — Kelce never signed the items,” the lawsuit alleges. “Instead, defendants flooded the market with forged autographed items, which they then sold. [U]nfortunately, many were duped, including Beckett.”
According to Beckett, Branco presented the company with a photograph of her with Kelce rather than sign an affidavit swearing the former Eagles star had signed the items. Kelce later insisted he never signed those items following Beckett’s internal investigation.
Considered one of the leading authenticators of autographed memorabilia, Beckett Authentication Services attended more than 125 events and authenticated more than 2 million items in 2024.
A Beckett spokesperson told cllct last week the company is reviewing its criteria and process for selecting independent contractors. Beckett plans to pay back all impacted customers, which it estimates will cost roughly $250,000.
Ben Burrows is reporter and editor for cllct.