A federal judge sentenced Jeff Tran, a former director of sports marketing at Microsoft, to 28 months in prison for wire fraud at the U.S. District Court in Seattle on Friday. This past January, Tran pleaded guilty to wire fraud and attempting to steal more than $1.5 million from his former employer using stolen Super Bowl tickets and fake invoices. In addition to the prison time, Chief U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez also fined Tran $50,000. Prosecutors previously recommended a maximum of three years in prison as part of the plea deal. Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20… Read More
Russell Wilson won’t suit up on Super Bowl Sunday but he’s still staying busy off the field in Atlanta this weekend. Russell Wilson’s TraceMe celebrity app cuts staff, closes L.A. office, pivots to sports prediction game The Seahawks star quarterback has been making the rounds all week, jumping from media interviews to sponsor events to high-profile parties before today’s big game. Top of mind for Wilson is Tally, a new sports prediction app developed by his Seattle startup that he’s been touting to reporters this week. The free-to-play app debuted a few months ago and offers real cash prize payouts to… Read More
The Seahawks aren’t playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday, but there’s another Seattle-area team doing its own type of winning this weekend in Atlanta. Seattle-based company Solius won a $20,000 second place prize on Saturday at the NFL’s 1st and Future startup competition designed to promote innovation in player health, safety, and performance. Founded in 2013 and led by CEO Rick Hennessey, Solius has developed light therapy that can stimulate the production of critical hormones and peptides. Last year it started rolling out light therapy kiosks in Vancouver, B.C., that help users increase vitamin D levels. An estimated 1… Read More
One of the most highly anticipated television events of the year, Super Bowl LIII, is coming up on Sunday, Feb. 3. If you’re planning to buy a new TV for your next watch party, tech reviewer Andru Edwards has some recommendations. On the latest episode of Geared Up, our podcast and live video show, Andru shares three of his top TV picks from Samsung, LG and TCL. Click on the video above to watch an archived livestream of the segment, listen to the full podcast above, and continue reading to learn more. Samsung’s 8K QLED TV Samsung’s 85-inch 8K QLED… Read More
Jeff Tran, a former director of sports marketing at Microsoft, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and attempting to steal more than $1.5 million from his former employer using stolen Super Bowl tickets and fake invoices. As part of his job, Tran was in charge of distributing Super Bowl tickets to Microsoft employees. Tran acquired and sold 63 game tickets and 93 tailgate tickets for a $208,200 profit, according to the guilty plea. In one transaction, he pocketed $12,400 after convincing a Microsoft colleague to buy tickets paid for by the company. According to court records, Tran issued two fake invoices worth… Read More