Two Men, Long on NFL's Radar, Are Charged With Making Counterfeit Tickets

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A small-time counterfeiting team that had apparently forged dozens of Super Bowl tickets was arrested at a White Castle restaurant in the Bronx on Monday, the authorities said.

An official with the Department of Homeland Security, James T. Hayes, said that federal agents have recovered more than 100 counterfeit tickets, including 34 Super Bowl tickets and others for an upcoming Billy Joel concert.

How legitimate the tickets looked - and how effective they would have been on game day - is a matter of debate. Mr. Hayes, the special agent in charge of the New York office of Homeland Security Investigations, said that 'some of their counterfeit tickets would get you admission into the venue - they were designed to beat the scanners.'

Mr. Hayes said his investigators were trying to determine whether the counterfeiters had discovered a 'glitch in the technology that we have to work to close or whether they hacked into any of the official systems.'

But the National Football League and the Queens district attorney's office, which participated in the investigation along with the New York Police Department, suggested that the counterfeit tickets were hardly perfect replicas. 'The printing on the tickets, however, was allegedly washed-out, there was a misprint on the back, the cutting of the tickets was not properly aligned, and various security features were missing,' according to a statement from Queens prosecutors.

Anastasia Danias, senior vice president and chief litigation officer for the N.F.L., said that fans who presented the counterfeit tickets would have been turned away at the gate.

The tickets had bar codes, but it was unclear if the bar codes would have properly scanned at the stadium.

Ms. Danias said that, in her experience, holders of counterfeit N.F.L. tickets never make it into the game and that she 'had no reason' to think it would be any different with these tickets.

One of the men in custody is Damon Daniels, 43, of the Bronx, authorities said. The other is Eugene Fladger, 32, of Philadelphia. The lawyers for the two men could not immediately be reached.

Kevin Ryan, a spokesman for the Queens district attorney's office, said the two men were arraigned Tuesday afternoon in Queens Criminal Court on a range of charges that include forgery, possession of a forged instrument, trademark counterfeiting and conspiracy. Bail was set at $5,000 for Mr. Daniels and $10,000 for Mr. Fladger. If convicted, they face a prison term of as long as seven years.

The two defendants had been tracked by investigators who work for the N.F.L. for several years. 'But they could never pin them down,' Mr. Hayes said, describing the origins of the case. From there, the case was referred to the New York Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations.