Counterfeit ticket suspect to face judicial hearing

A suspect behind the counterfeit tickets for the homecoming pre-dawn party has been apprehended and will face a judicial hearing Oct. 12.

According to a Campus Police report, the suspect was confronted and admitted that the tickets he sold were counterfeit.

Judicial Affairs will be able to fully investigate the counterfeit ticket mishap that caused pandemonium at the event.

Almost 50 students reported being sold counterfeit tickets.

Deona Cureton, director of student conduct, said that the reported price range of the tickets sold were from $5 to $15.

Campus Police were not alone in investigating.

 "Students told police officers, and they ‘put 2 plus 2' together," Cureton said.

Cureton said they [Judicial Affairs] hope to find out how the tickets were produced and what was done with the monies collected.

The suspect may have to pay restitution funds, and he may have to issue a public apology  once the case hearing is closed, Cureton said.

As of now, there will be no student refunds.

"I think he should be responsible for refunding the students because they spent their money and could not attend the event," said Dominique Brantley, student patrol.

Brantley is a senior justice studies major from Newark.

"I just think that it was unfortunate that [that] student made the decision to be dishonest like that," said Ebony Ramsey, student activities director.

The pre-dawn party sold out two weeks prior to the event.

Hours before the event, the counterfeit tickets began to surface.

"I was talking to some students, and one student informed me that she purchased a ticket today [Sept. 25], and I asked to see it," said Zuo Reeves, a member of Campus Activities Board and Campus Life Marketing Committee.

"I actually didn't say anything to the student about it [the ticket] being fake or not, I just later informed my adviser that it was going to be a serious situation," Reeves said.

Reeves is a junior mass communications major from Wash., D.C.

The homecoming committee and security were notified of the possibility of counterfeit tickets, but were unaware of the actual number [of tickets] or severity of the situation.

"We had to have a lot more officers outside of the event because of the tickets," said Zuo Reeves.

Reeves also worked as front-door security for the event.

"It caused chaos; there was a student leader that was threatened by a student because they could not get into the pre-dawn," Reeves said.