Duo used fake credentials to charge others for entry to World Cup match: MDSO

Two Georgia men are accused of scamming their way into the Scotland-Brazil World Cup match in Miami Gardens on Wednesday and selling entry to others, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said.

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Authorities were called around 6:30 p.m. to Section 135 at Hard Rock Stadium, where approximately 65,000 people were watching the match, according to an arrest affidavit.

Kareem Thomas, 38, and Stanthony Ballard, 43, were in the section along with four witnesses who told police officers they had been led into the stadium by the men in exchange for approximately $1,000 each, the affidavit said. The least expensive tickets were valued at $425.

Deputies didn’t say whether the people who were allegedly scammed were allowed to stay.

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Thomas and Ballard showed authorities fraudulent credentials to an unrelated sporting event, the affidavit said. The men were known to have been thrown out from a previous event at Hard Rock Stadium.

They were arrested Wednesday on felony charges of uttering a forged instrument and interference with a sporting event, jail records show. Ballard was being held Thursday on a $5,000 bond at the Miami-Dade Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, and Thomas was being held on a $3,500 bond.

Thomas and Ballard are being represented by the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office, which declined to comment.

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