Faking “Mint” Grades to Inflate Value
During closing arguments, federal prosecutor David Felton walked jurors through a “mountain” of evidence, including Curcio’s own text messages, to show how he allegedly faked mint grades on cards to deceive buyers.
A PSA mint grade — issued by Professional Sports Authenticator, a leading card-grading company — can boost a card’s value by tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, trial evidence showed.
Curcio is accused of falsifying the 1986 Michael Jordan rookie card from Fleer, a highly coveted collectible, along with a first-year Pokémon Charizard card and roughly 40 additional trading cards.
Defense Argues Anger, Not Fraud
Curcio’s attorney, Martin Bell, countered that prosecutors failed to prove intent to defraud collectors. Instead, the defense claimed Curcio’s actions were driven by frustration with PSA, which he said had blacklisted him, and a desire to continue participating in the card-trading world independently.
“While not well-advised, these actions were motivated by anger, not criminal intent,” Bell said. He added that the case highlights gatekeeping issues in the collectibles industry.
Curcio previously served time for a 2008 armored car robbery, a fact prosecutors cited during trial.
