Authorities have found that a well-known businessman in the sports memorabilia industry has died, following the issuance of a search warrant related to his alleged misconduct on Tuesday.
Brett Lemieux, 45, from Westfield, Indiana, was the founder of the popular sports memorial website Mistermancave. Reports indicate he sold over four million counterfeit items, boasting over $350 million in sales in a lengthy Facebook post shared within the Autographs 101 group on Wednesday morning.
Just hours later, Westfield Police revealed that he had taken his own life, suffering from “a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
His Facebook account has since been deleted, meaning no further posts will appear.
Lemieux reportedly orchestrated a large-scale counterfeiting operation, creating fake holograms to mimic those of major sports memorabilia companies, allowing him to falsely certify items for collectors.
He sold these counterfeit pieces at significantly lower prices, profiting from his deceptive tactics. In his Facebook post, Lemieux mentioned that following the death of Kobe Bryant in 2020, he flooded the market with 80,000 memorabilia items.
He expressed that he intended to step back after his surgery but felt the financial temptation was just too strong to resist.
“People know this guy. They know what he’s done,” he said in relation to his actions. “He’s been at it for years, and he’s significantly affected the values of items, like those signed by Tom Brady.”
Andy Albert, who runs an independent card exchange in Indianapolis, commented that his phone was “blowing up” with inquiries throughout the night following the news.
Albert noted that Lemieux might have had some professional framing done years ago, but had little direct contact with the memorabilia community, adding that fortunately, “99% of people in this industry do things the right way.”
