A ticket broker from Georgia, known for stiffing dozens of fans out of college football tickets last year, has been arrested in Florida Keys after trying to escape his prison sentence.
Jeff Cook, 56, was convicted of nine counts of theft and one count of selling tickets without a license after being unable to produce tickets to fans who had paid him. In September 2017, he failed to fulfill ticket orders for the football game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Georgia Bulldogs in South Bend, Indiana. While hundreds of fans bought tickets from him, he told them last-minute that they wouldn’t be receiving tickets due to an “allotment” issue.
He was supposed to surrender himself to the Putnam County Jail by 9 a.m. this past Friday to serve his 180-day sentence, but he didn’t show up. Officers eventually found Cook in Key West, Florida and charged him with escape, which means he will face an even greater sentence – resulting in one to five years in prison. He is currently being held in Monroe County Jail, where he will await an extradition hearing.
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said Cook will also be charged for another ticketing incident, DawgNation reports.
“Because of the publicity surrounding this case, we heard from another man who said he paid for tickets to the LSU game and never received them,” Sills said. “So apparently Mr. Cook didn’t learn his lesson. I’m going to charge him for that one, too.”
