Ex-White Sox employees charged in alleged ticket scam

A pair of former Chicago White Sox employees have been indicted on federal charges after allegedly conspiring with a ticket broker to fraudulently sell thousands of White Sox tickets over the past several seasons, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.

James Costello and William O'Neil, both of whom worked for the White Sox as ticket sellers, supposedly provided approximately 34,876 illegally obtained White Sox tickets to broker Bruce Lee in exchange for cash. The tickets were then sold by Lee on StubHub for a price below face value, according to the indictment.

Costello was charged with one count of wire fraud, while O'Neil faces one count of making a false statement to the FBI. Lee was charged with eleven counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering.

None of the three men have appeared in court, and arraignment dates have yet to be scheduled.

Costello and O'Neil began providing Lee with the tickets in 2016, according to Jon Seidel of the Chicago Sun-Times. Authorities claim that Lee pocketed approximately $868,369 from the illegal sales over the last four seasons, while the White Sox suffered a loss of approximately $1 million.

A White Sox senior vice president flagged Lee in October 2018 and contacted the FBI, according to Seidel. The club's internal data found that over 96% of the broker's sales on StubHub were complimentary vouchers meant for family and friends of the players, team sponsors, and other promotional groups, Seidel reports.

An FBI affidavit dated December 2018 specifically cited the White Sox Aug. 21, 2018, home game - when top pitching prospect Michael Kopech made his major-league debut - as a contest of interest in the agency's investigation, according to Seidel. Lee allegedly sold 500 tickets for that game on StubHub.

The White Sox have yet to comment on Friday's arrests. Lee and his attorney refused comment when reached by Seidel; Costello and O'Neil could not be reached by the Sun-Times reporter.