Two YouTubers from Argentina are facing felony charges after they were arrested at a World Cup match as authorities say they allegedly tried to bypass security using bogus credentials.
Pato Perrotta, 26, and Beni Marmol, 20, were arrested on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium after they allegedly bypassed three layers of security for the Colombia-Portugal match with credentials that weren’t valid.
In an arrest affidavit obtained by Fox News Digital, a Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office deputy wrote that Perrotta said he was “hired by a media company to review the event and has credentials.”
However, the deputy wrote that the credentials were from a previous event and weren’t supposed to be used for Saturday’s match.
Marmol allegedly “stated that he was a media influencers (sic) trying to get in to stream the game.”
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Both men were arrested on charges of felony interference with a sports/entertainment event, which has a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
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Perrotta and Marmol were held at a local jail on a $2,500 bond.
During a live video, streamer Momo Benavides said he heard from Walter Costabel, who is the YouTuber’s manager, Todo Noticias reported.
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“I have been with Mármol y Pato since yesterday. We already paid bail, they will be released in a few hours. The cause is still not entirely clear. The judge just set bail and nothing more. All that is said are rumors about it,” Momo said.
Momo said the YouTubers will remain in the U.S. until the matter is resolved.
“I imagine that, obviously, the fact that they have paid bail is not going to allow them to return. They are going to have to stay there until it is resolved,” he said. “In any case, they are not deported, they just do not have to be near the stadiums where the World Cup matches are played. The crime charged is interference in sporting events.”
The duo’s videos span lavish shopping sprees and 24-hour challenges. Perrotta boasts more than 500,000 YouTube subscribers, with Marmol close behind at more than 270,000.
