The “Summer Jam” concert at the Dubuque County Fair this Friday night was a scam, and about a thousand people who bought tickets to see three top rap and R-and-B entertainers are out 25 bucks per ticket.
Molly Welter got six tickets and she’s ready to sue somebody. “One of my friend’s dads is a lawyer so we’re calling him and I’ve been in touch with him a couple times to see what he can do for us because he said he would take this case if we feel we need to do something about it,” she says.
The concert was billed as a triple feature with Ciara, Chamillionaire and Chris Brown — all top Billboard artists. Chris Brown’s promoter called Dubuque County Fair officials to tell them the concert must be a hoax because Brown was not scheduled to be in Dubuque. The Dubuque County Sheriff stepped in and stopped ticket sales and confiscated as much of the cash as he could find.
“CD’s 4 Change” is one of the Dubuque stores that were selling tickets to the concert. John Hackett, the CD store’s owner, says it seemed legit. “We got a call from some promoter from some promotion company wanting us to sell tickets and we said ‘Sure, we’ve done it a hundred times. It’s not a big deal,'” Hackett says.
Hackett was not paid to sell the tickets, nor did he earn a cut of the 25-dollar ticket price for each ticket sold. But he’s stuck trying to explain to customers who bought tickets why he was selling bogus tickets. “I feel like I was a victim,” Hackett says. “I feel like everybody who comes into my store was a victim.”
The Dubuque County Sheriff is asking ticketholders to come to his office and fill out a victim’s report. Sheriff Ken Runde says they’re trying to track down the guilty party to ensure ticketholders get refunds.