Kissimmee family sentenced to prison for Walt Disney World ticket scam

Kissimmee family sentenced to prison for Walt Disney World ticket scam

Disney World is the happiest place on earth for many families, but one Kissimmee family would probably disagree.

Eileen Hightower, 50, and two of her adult children were recently sentenced to prison for an identity theft scam that involved tickets to Walt Disney World parks, reported the Orlando Sentinel. She and her children – Samuel Velasquez Jr. and Sabrina Velasquez, both of Kissimmee – along with Hightower’s niece, Jennifer Cancel of Hartford, Conn., were sentenced to at least three years in federal prison, and were ordered to pay US$107,000 in restitution.

Eileen Hightower received an additional 10 months.

The scam involved using stolen information to obtain fake driver licences and credit cards, which were then used to buy tickets for Disney attractions. The family sold the tickets to illegal ticket resellers in Kissimmee, and over a few months they bought and sold over $100,000 in tickets.

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