Former Kansas Athletics official asks for less than 5 years in prison; claims KU didn't actually lose any money from ticket scam
April 8, 2011
Wichita — A key official at the University of Kansas during a $2 million ticket scalping conspiracy claimed in a court document filed Friday that the school did not actually lose any money "in spite of the pilferage" because those tickets would not have been sold anyway.
Charlette Blubaugh, the former ashociate athletic director in charge of the ticket office, made the claims in a court document seeking no more than a 57-month prison term — at the low end of the advisory sentencing guideline — when she is sentenced on Thursday.
Her defense attorney, John Rapp, wrote that there is no question that his client stole tickets from Kansas Athletics Inc., the nonprofit which promotes Kansas athletics, but he argued that often those were so-called hold tickets used to correct last-minute seating problems that would not have been sold. The filing also claimed it "appeared likely" that no one was denied a ticket by her illegal conduct.
Blubaugh, 44, of Medford, Okla., told U.S. District Judge Wesley Brown in her filing that the Williams Education Fund, the university's fundraising arm, actually increased its donations during her time there because the staff used numerous hold tickets correctly to obtain increased donations.
"The priority points ticket system Ms. Blubaugh helped establish at KAI worked in spite of this conspiracy," according to the defense filing. "Revenue increased in spite of the pilferage."
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/apr/08/former-kansas-athletics-official-asks-less-5-years/
