Alleged movie ticket scammer to stand trial

A man accused of scamming major film studios out of movie premiere

tickets was ordered to stand trial Wednesday, despite his attorney’s

claim that the studios give such tickets away for free.

Burbank Superior Court Judge Zaven Sinanian found there was enough

evidence against Kristopher Schwoch to have his case go to trial.

Peter Vance, Schwoch’s attorney, argued that the charges of grand

theft against the 24-year-old Milwaukee man should be reduced to

petty theft charges because no evidence had been given as to the cost

of the tickets Schwoch allegedly scammed from Warner Bros. Studio and

Sony Pictures, or for a tour of the set of the television show

“Seventh Heaven.”

“It’s pure supposition at this point of what these tickets are

worth,” Vance said. “It’s just guessing. Its value may be to the

people who purchase them and not the studios.”

Deputy District Atty. Susan Navas countered that since Schwoch

told the studios that the tickets had been auctioned off for amounts

ranging from $3,500 to $10,000, that shows their worth.

“This is not grand theft of personal property so the loss is

determined by a different way,” Navas said. “These are priceless

because they are not available to the public.”

A grand theft is one in which the value of the property taken is

$400 or greater.

Schwoch allegedly obtained the tickets by claiming to the studios

they would be auctioned off to benefit the StarCare Foundation, a

fake charity for terminally ill children. Schwoch used the tickets

for himself instead.

Schwoch was arrested in March when he came to Warner Bros. to pick

up a ticket to the premiere of “Miss Congeniality 2.” He is out on

bond and scheduled to appear in Pasadena Superior Court Oct. 20. He

faces a maximum sentence of nine years in prison, if convicted.

Schwoch posed as “Dan Witslib,” who requested tickets from

publicists and special event coordinators for Sony, Warner Bros., the

American Film Institute and “The Jimmy Kimmel Show,” promising that

they would be auctioned off by the StarCare Foundation, Burbank

Police Det. Wallace Schilling said.

Schwoch used his real name when he picked up tickets at theater

will call windows for the premieres, Schilling said. He was

unsuccessful in getting tickets for a premiere of “Meet the Fockers”

through the American Film Institute because a check he sent was

written on a closed account, Schilling said.

In an interview after his arrest, Schwoch said he had learned how

to do his scam from a website, Schilling said.

“He set up a fraudulent website and created the pseudonym of Dan

Witslib and requested tickets to all the premieres he could find,”

Schilling said.

Schwoch also advertised the tickets for sale on a website on which

he told buyers their tickets would be waiting at a will call window

at the venue, where the event was taking place, Schilling said.

Three people who had bought the tickets off the website found that

their names were not on the will call list, Schilling said.