Bears memorabilia dealer faces sentencing

CHICAGO, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- A spokesman for the Chicago Bears says the team will reconsider its relationship after the season with a memorabilia company whose owner has admitted fraud.

Jarrod Oldridge's JO Sports has had a series of one-year contracts with the Bears since 2008, the Chicago Tribune reported. He pleaded guilty in November to federal charges of selling jerseys that had been doctored to look as if they had been used in a game and is to be sentenced in May.

The team said Oldridge's wrongdoing predates their relationship.

"The authenticated pieces of inventory that we provide are assured of being accurate," Scott Hagel, a spokesman, said.

Hagel said the team will decide after the season how to "move forward."

Experts say buyers must be careful when they venture into the sports memorabilia market.

"The only way to know if it is for sure is to watch the guy wear it and throw it to you," said Joel Levine, a New York lawyer whose former company, Game Exclusives, had a contract with the Bears during the 2006 season.