'Sadistic Sadie' sentenced to jail for fraud

CINCINNATI - The president of the Cincinnati Roller Girls has been sentenced to 20 months in jail for fraud.

Mercedes Stafford, who skates under the name "Sadistic Sadie," pleaded guilty on June 1 for illegally obtaining more than 525 airline tickets at her job as a United Airlines employee at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

Prosecutors said Stafford, 34, fraudulently bought "involuntary tickets" that airlines issue when a passenger's flight is canceled or delayed. She then created fake ticket numbers she used to buy real tickets on United and other airlines for herself, her friends, her family, the Cincinnati Roller Girls, and other individuals associated with roller derby events, including other roller derby teams, according to prosecutors. The tickets, worth more than $850,000, were for flights through the United States, as well as to Cancun, Mexico and Italy.

Stafford also admitted that she received more than $50,000 in payment from the individuals or organizations who benefitted from the plane tickets.