Jan 23 2007 10:21 PM
I've got a really small breaking story.
Starstruck Mets Fan Fined for Impersonating Reporter
By COREY KILGANNON
Published: January 24, 2007
The twin passions in the life of Ryan Leli intersected last August when the San Diego Padres came to Shea Stadium to play the New York Mets.
Mr. Leli, 18, had worshiped the Mets since age 3 and was a huge fan of Mike Piazza, even after the catcher left the Mets a year ago for San Diego.
His other passion was celebrity-chasing. A drama student, he relied on sharp clothes, acting skills and general charm to infiltrate movie sets and film premieres, meeting the likes of Tom Cruise and Sean Combs. He would post photographs of himself with the stars on his personal page on MySpace.com.
So that August afternoon, Mr. Leli did what any overenthusiastic Piazza fan might fantasize about: He created a fake press pass that fooled Shea officials and gained access to the visiting team’s clubhouse, where Mr. Piazza was being interviewed by a scrum of reporters. Mr. Leli’s line of questioning — especially the request that Mr. Piazza pose for a photo with him — annoyed a Padres official, who had him ejected.
Mr. Leli tried the same trick a week later, when the Mets played the Colorado Rockies. This time, he was stopped by detectives at the press entrance and arrested.
His journalistic foray took a detour to an arraignment in Queens Criminal Court, where Mr. Leli was hit with a slew of charges including criminal possession of a forged instrument, falsifying business records, petit larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, criminal impersonation and criminal trespassing. The charges carried total penalties of up to seven years in jail.
But Mr. Leli pleaded guilty yesterday to a lesser charge, second-degree criminal impersonation, and was released — on condition that he stay away for three years from Mets home games and from KeySpan Park in Coney Island, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones, a minor league team owned by the owners of the Mets, as well as the team’s spring training camp at Port St. Lucie, Fla. He was also fined $1,000.
In court, Mr. Leli examined a reporter’s press pass and wrinkled his nose. “Not bad,” he said, “but mine was better.”
His bore the name “NBC Universal.” The day he interviewed Mr. Piazza, Mr. Leli continued to question him after other reporters stopped, and, according to prosecutors, became “pushy and obnoxious.” At an official’s request, Mr. Leli was escorted out of the clubhouse. When Mets officials called NBC, no one at the network had heard of this young reporter.
Yesterday, Jay Horwitz, a spokesman for the Mets, called the punishment appropriate.
“This is a message to anyone who thinks they can impersonate a press person and sneak in,” he said. “We take this seriously and if anybody else tries it, they’ll get the same result.”
Mr. Leli, dressed in a suit and tie, walked out of the courtroom yesterday and said he still loves the Mets — and Mr. Piazza.
“He’s always been my hero, and I just wanted to meet him,” Mr. Leli said.
His mother, Denise, interjected, “He had no idea he was doing anything that wrong and he just wanted to hang out with Piazza and the Mets.” Noting that her son had been going to Mets baseball camp since age 5, Mrs. Leli added, “We financed his obsession with the Mets, so maybe it’s all our fault.”
Mr. Leli’s lawyer, Joseph Mure, noted that his client had never been arrested before and had bought legitimate tickets for the games in question.
“The kid’s still a Met fan and they can never take that away from him,” Mr. Mure said.
Mr. Leli, for his part, complained that the video camera he had used to film Mr. Piazza had been seized as evidence and not returned.
“I want that camera back,” he said. “My prom pictures are in there.”
