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WARREN -- A Girard man was sentenced to time served and will have to pay more than $70,000 in restitution after federal prosecutors charged him with bank fraud, alleging he forged autographs on baseball cards he then sold for thousands.
Cord Monroe was sentenced on one count of bank fraud in federal court last week.
In total, federal Judge Sara Lioi of the U.S. Northern District Court ruled Monroe will have to pay about $73,358.
As part of his sentencing, Monroe also was placed on five years of supervised release that began immediately after his court hearing.
Investigators charged him with a sole count of bank fraud in May 2022 in an auction scheme. Court records say Monroe purchased several rare T206 baseball cards, a tobacco card set popularized from 1909 to 1911, from an online auction service headquartered in California.
Monroe was then said to have forged autographs to sell for profit to auctioning houses in New Jersey and Pennsylvania between 2015 and 2017.
Investigators say Monroe purchased the cards under the name David Scott.
The document shows bank deposits from Monroe detailing the dates and the amounts of each of the forged cards.
In one instance outlined in the court document, Monroe sold cards of former White Sox catcher Billy Sullivan; third baseman, shortstop and left fielder Wid Conroy; shortstop Freddy Parent; and lefty pitcher Nap Rucker for $26,415.