GUILTY

Concert Promoter Conned Investors With Fake Events, Prosecutors Allege

Gabriel Martin Reed stole at least $1.7 million from victims, federal prosecutors say.

Los Angeles concert promoter Gabriel Martin Reed, 47, who stole $1.7 million from investors, was sentenced on Monday to 57 months behind bars, federal prosecutors announced. Reed, a former Malibu resident, convinced his victims to invest in what they thought were concerts and World Wrestling Entertainment events, when he was actually using the money on “his rent, utility bills and travel expenses,” prosecutors said. “When he pleaded guilty, Reed specifically admitted defrauding one Los Angeles investor, who agreed to put $100,000 into a 2016 concert tour Reed was calling ‘Titans of Rock,’” prosecutors said in a press release. “However, many of the promised artists had not agreed to participate in the purported tour.” Reed told the investors he had longstanding relationships with musicians—and even fabricated records, included contracts with artists, to keep the ruse going, prosecutors alleged.