South Philly man who peddled more than $200,000 worth of fake Jason Kelce merch sentenced to probation
Robert Capone, 52, was also ordered to pay tens of thousands in restitution to victims.
A South Philadelphia man who orchestrated a scheme to peddle more than $200,000 worth of phony Jason Kelce autographs and memorabilia was sentenced to five years probation on Monday.
Robert Capone, 52, told a Montgomery County judge he had “embarrassed myself and embarrassed my family” for attempting to sell more than 1,100 jerseys, helmets, and other items he claimed had been signed by the former Philadelphia Eagles center.
He told the judge the behavior would “never happen again.”
In addition to probation, Capone was ordered to pay the majority of a nearly $72,000 restitution payment to those he had defrauded.
In August, Capone pleaded guilty to charges of theft, forgery, and conspiracy for planning to sell the phony merchandise.
In reality, those items were signed by Alfred P. Sicoli, an artist from Bucks County and friend of Capone’s.
Sicoli, 51, of Penndel, pleaded guilty in November to forgery and related crimes. He was also sentenced on Monday to three years probation and ordered to pay the remainder of the restitution payment.
Sicoli, given the opportunity to address the court, accepted responsibility for his role in the crime — though he expressed more regret that “Bobby” Capone, whom he has known for 30 years, had received death threats since his criminal case went public.
“He’s a really good friend,” Sicoli said. “This was not about a grand scheme to make a million dollars — it was just me helping him do some things.”
Judge Risa Vetri Ferman said those things were criminal. She said the men had harmed customers both financially and emotionally — as well as Kelce himself.
“Mr. Kelce is not here, but I have to believe there is damage to the player’s reputation,” Ferman said when sentencing Capone.
Ferman said the sports memorabilia industry “depends on trust” and authentication from reputable sources, trust she said Capone and Sicoli had broken.
“It’s more than just a person or an item,” the judge said of the impact. “It’s an industry.”
Prosecutors said Capone, who runs a sports-marketing firm that arranges meet-and-greets with popular Philadelphia athletes in addition to selling signed memorabilia, went to great lengths to pass off the merchandise as authentic.
The plan began in June 2024, when Capone crashed a private event at Valley Forge Casino where Kelce was signing autographs on behalf of a different sports memorabilia company.
Capone took photos that made it appear as if his company had organized the event, later using images from that evening to bolster his claims about the authenticity of the phony merchandise.
The plan crumbled when Kelce’s manager and staff from the rival memorabilia company discovered the forged items for sale and contacted authorities.
Gwendolyn Kull, the lead prosecutor, told The Inquirer that imposing financial restitution as punishment, as opposed to jail time, was the best way to make Capone’s victims whole again.
The impact from those crimes extended beyond money, Kull said. She said many of those who Capone had lied to were people whom he had standing relationships with.
“That’s what hurt the most for them,” Kull said. “He took their friendship and completely destroyed it to get money.”