Arrested YouTubers face hefty prison sentence after sneaking into World Cup game
Two YouTubers are facing the possibility of a hefty prison sentence after they attempted to sneak into a World Cup game.
Content creators Beni Marmol and Pato Perrotta were caught allegedly trying to sneak their way into the match on Sunday (June 28).
A total of 16 people were arrested at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami at the weekend, where Portugal were going head-to-head against Colombia in the final Group K stage of the World Cup.
The two YouTubers were among those apprehended, with the pair allegedly having used an expired media pass from a prior game to try to enter the match.
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As reported by WPLG, Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies confirmed that Marmol, 20, and Perrotta, 26, had ‘bypass(ed) three layers of security’ using credentials from a previous game and had managed to make it onto ‘stadium grounds’.
In the arrest report, it stated that Marmol had claimed he was a ‘media influencer’ who was trying to access the match in order to stream it online.
The arrest report went on to detail how Perrotta had said that he was ‘hired by a media company to review the event and has credentials, but they were from a previous event’.
Now, the YouTubers are being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $2,500 bond after having been charged with interference with a sporting or entertainment event.
Speaking to Todo Noticias, Walter Costabel, who is the manager of both Marmol and Perrotta, stated that the bail costs have since been paid and both of the men are ‘fine’.
He continued: “In any case, they are not being deported; they simply cannot be near the stadiums where the World Cup matches are being played. The alleged offense is interference with sporting events.”
However, if the pair are found guilty, the charge could result in a sentence of up to five years behind bars and a third-degree felony. They could also be slapped with a $5,000 penalty fine.
Meanwhile, the match they missed resulted in a nil-nil score for Portugal and Colombia.
Some people have reported scrambling to find cheaper options to watch the games, with many complaining about the prices of tickets for the tournament.
Despite recent price drops, tickets for upcoming knockout matches are still sitting at around $2,000 a pop.
Tickets for the quarter-finals are currently just under $3,000 and the semi-finals will cost soccer fans just shy of $4,000 after recent price decreases.