A recidivist fraudster has been given a lengthy prison sentence for posing as a marketing director at Sony Music Entertainment to steal more than $1 million from event bookers.
Meceo Ray McEaddy, aka “Ray Annes,” was sentenced by a Manhattan judge on Wednesday (Nov. 4) to six and a half years in federal prison. He previously served four years in state prison for defrauding investors with false promises that he could book performances by Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber.
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McEaddy has admitted to launching a near-identical scheme almost immediately after getting released from jail in 2017. Starting in 2018, he began to pose as a high-up employee at Sony Music Latin and convinced 20 victims to wire him a total of $1.2 million for nonexistent concert slots.
Prosecutors say McEaddy lied about having connections to famous artists and even forged the signature of one top musician. Court papers do not identify the names of these artists, though McEaddy claimed on a podcast in 2019 that he worked with top Latin acts, including Bad Bunny, Ozuna, Maluma and J Balvin.
He was indicted on federal charges in May 2025 and pled guilty a few months later to fraud and aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors cited McEaddy’s hefty criminal record in seeking a lengthy prison sentence: in addition to running the similar concert-booking scheme years earlier, McEaddy has five other prior convictions for crimes including reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct and posing as law enforcement.
“Upon his release, he again returned like clockwork to engaging in fraudulent behavior,” wrote prosecutors in an October court filing, obtained by Billboard. “A serious sentence is necessary to hammer home for this defendant that his actions are wrong, to protect others from becoming victims of the defendant’s schemes, and to promote respect for the law that the defendant clearly lacks.”
Prosecutors asked for a seven-year sentence. McEaddy’s lawyer urged a judge to instead give him three years in prison, saying the man has “done everything possible to meaningfully atone” after having “deluded himself into believing” he could book top artists.
Ultimately, Judge Gregory H. Woods came down closer to the prosecution’s recommendation and ordered a six-and-a-half-year sentence. McEaddy will also serve three years of supervised release after his prison term and return his $1.2 million fraud earnings. Law360 was first to report the news.
Reps for the prosecution and Sony declined to comment on the sentence. McEaddy’s lawyer did not return a request for comment.