1984 World’s Fair Official Gets Year in Jail for Fraud

A Valencia man who was marketing director for the 1984 World’s Fair in New Orleans has been sentenced to one year in federal prison after pleading guilty to two counts of mail fraud in a kickback scheme involving the selling of fair souvenirs, New Orleans authorities said.

Frank M. Kennedy, 52, was sentenced Wednesday in New Orleans. He must report to federal prison June 9.

Kennedy was placed on three years’ probation and ordered to pay restitution of $51,000 to the fair, said Renee McGinty, a federal attorney in New Orleans. The money will go into a pool in federal bankruptcy court for paying fair creditors, she said.

Kennedy’s son, Gary Lee Kennedy, 26, of New Orleans, has pleaded guilty to having knowledge of his father’s illegal schemes but failing to notify authorities, McGinty said. He was placed on three years’ probation.

Originally Indicted on 22 Counts

The elder Kennedy was indicted in June, 1984, on 22 counts of mail fraud for allegedly receiving kickbacks in return for steering the licensing of souvenirs to certain companies, McGinty said. He pleaded guilty in February to two counts in return for dismissal of the other charges, she said.

McGinty said the two counts involved Kennedy’s receiving 50 cents for every dozen T-shirts sold at the fair and using fair funds to buy $726,000 worth of souvenirs under false pretenses. Because fair directors had rejected buying the souvenirs from a New York-based company that he had struck a deal with, Kennedy persuaded the company to set up a location in the state of Washington to hide the souvenirs’ origin, she said.

McGinty said it is not known how much Kennedy profited from the ventures.

Kennedy was marketing director for the fair from October, 1982, to March, 1984.