West Chester firm held in contempt in T-shirt scam

HARRISBURG » A West Chester sports apparel business that raised $579,000 online from more than 8,500 consumers to create athletic shirts that purportedly changes colors in response to body temperatures has been held in contempt of court, the state attorney general announced.

Kenneth E. Crockett Jr., owner of Radiate Athletics, Incorporated, failed to comply with the terms of an April 2017 settlement reached with the Office of Attorney General. He operated a West Chester-based sports apparel business. Last year, he settled with the state Attorney General’s Office and promised to make restitution. He has yet to do so.

Radiate’s initial goal was to raise $30,000 through a Kickstarter campaign to finance the shirts, which sold for $35. But Crockett kept the Kickstarter campaign going until Radiate raised $579,000 from 8,556 consumers.

The owner and company failed to deliver the shirts to many consumers as were promised by the defendants, and will now face additional monetary penalties and restitution of $262,606.24 and forfeit the right to do business in Pennsylvania, including online transactions. The court ordered the defendants to pay the monies due under the order by April 12, 2018.

“My office will not stop fighting for the rights of Pennsylvania consumers, whether they’ve been ripped off for $35 by a T-shirt company or a big business for much more,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said. “We will continue to protect consumers from scams, no matter the dollar amount. $35 is $35.”

Shapiro said the office’s Bureau of Consumer Protection said Radiate was required to deliver the shirts in April of 2017 to approximately 1,600 consumers who paid for shirts and have not yet received them. Radiate was required to pay restitution to other consumers who received shirts which are defective, totaling $2,437. Crockett Jr. was also required to pay civil penalties and costs of $10,000.

The shirts had been sold on Amazon, but have since been pulled.

One consumer who sent money to Radiate through Kickstarter observed how quickly the online campaign’s goals were met and took it as a good sign.

“I was surprised at how quickly the campaign was getting traction and due to how much the goal was exceeded, it seemed more likely to be valid and a good product moving forward,” said Josef Oggier of Mechanicsburg. “For a while we were getting updates, but then deadline after deadline was missed and then we just stopped hearing from Kenny (Crockett).”

Internet crowdfunding campaign sites are an increasingly popular practice in which a product or venture is financed by contributions from a large group of people who “pledge” money to help create a product.

Complaints began surfacing from consumers almost immediately after the Kickstarter campaign began, with some consumers claiming they paid for Radiate shirts through Kickstarter – but received defective shirts which were not as advertised or never received them at all. The Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection filed suit in Chester County against Radiate and Crockett in 2015, alleging the company was in violation of the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law.

“This settlement with Radiate is about protecting consumers from scams, no matter the dollar amount,” Shapiro said. “We’ll fight to protect consumers ripped off over a $35 shirt just as we held Volkswagen liable for $30 million in environmental damages.”