If someone offered you a fake SEPTA TransPass for half the price of the real one, would you buy it? If you’re a City of Philadelphia employee at City Hall, apparently the answer was “yes”.
Mark Cooper and Kimberly Adams made six figures selling counterfeit passes largely to City of Philadelphia employees.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office sent Monday, Cooper, a former 311 employee, pleaded guilty in federal court to making and selling more than 2,000 of the fake monthly SEPTA TransPasses. Adams, who pleaded guilty last year, met people outside and inside City Hall and sold the passes for $50. They normally cost $91.
From August 2013 to June 2015, Adams and Cooper sold more than 2,000 passes. Most of the customers were City of Philadelphia employees. At a cost of $50 each, Adams and Cooper would have made $100,000. One more time: Most of that money came from City of Philadelphia employees around City Hall.
Adams’ sentencing is scheduled for May 18. Cooper is scheduled to be sentenced in August. He could face up to 20 years in prison.