Bucks man sentenced for stealing U.S. Open tickets

Robert Fryer, of Perkasie, faces 14 months in federal prison

PHILADELPHIA » A former U.S. Golf Association employee from Bucks County was sent to federal prison for participating in a conspiracy to steal and then sell more than $3.3 million worth of U.S. Open Golf tournament tickets.

Robert Fryer, 40, of Perkasie, was sentenced in U.S. District Court on Wednesday to 14 months in prison and three years of supervised release after he pleaded guilty and admitted that he sold the tickets for roughly $1.2 million to two Philadelphia-area ticket brokers.

Those ticket brokers, Jeremi Michael Conaway, 46, of West Chester, who owns and operates Eagle Eye Ticketing Management, and James Bell, 70, of Glen Mills, who owns and operates Sherry’s Theater Ticket Agency, were previously sentenced to prison for their roles in the conspiracy, according to federal prosecutors.

U.S. District Court Judge Michael M. Baylson also ordered Fryer to pay $3,364,622 in restitution to the U.S. Golf Association and to forfeit the $1,150,000 in profits he amassed.

“This defendant stole revenue from an American institution and legitimate business that pays taxes, employs many, supports a non-profit organization, and brings excitement and income to our district with U.S. Open events at courses like the Merion Golf Club,” said U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams.

“Criminals that conduct ticket schemes like this prey on the excitement surrounding big events; fans should remember that any item with a low price that seems ‘too good to be true’ should be cause for caution and concern,” Williams added.

Prosecutors alleged that beginning in 2013, in connection with the U.S. Open held at the Merion Golf Club, Fryer, while working for the USGA in the admissions office, realized that he could exploit a weakness in the USGA’s ticket tracking protocol and steal tickets to the U.S. Open without the knowledge of the USGA.

Rather than notify his employer of the flaw, Fryer admitted that he stole thousands of U.S. Open tickets in connection with the U.S. Open at Merion and arranged to sell the stolen tickets to Conaway, who at the time worked for another ticket brokerage in the area, prosecutors said.

Fryer continued to steal and sell tickets to Conaway for every subsequent U.S. Open through 2019, and he would have stolen tickets to the 2020 U.S. Open except it was held without fans that year due to the pandemic.

Furthermore, in connection with the 2017 U.S. Open, Fryer sold stolen U.S. Open tickets to Bell, who operated another local area ticket brokerage.

All told, Fryer admitted to stealing more than $3 million worth of U.S. Open tickets and selling them for approximately $1.2 million to his two co-conspirators, who themselves sold the tickets for a profit, prosecutors explained.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. Lowe.