Three California men pleaded not guilty today to federal charges claiming them to have defrauded online ticket vendors to buy 1.5 million choice seats to sporting events and concerts around the U. S.

Authorities have revealed that a 43-count indictment was handed down on February 23 and unsealed today, pinning the scam on Kenneth Lowson, 40, Kristofer Kirsch, 37, and Faisal Nahdi, 36, all of Los Angeles, as well as Joel Stevenson, 37, of Alameda, California.

"This conduct did not constitute a violation of federal law", Lowson attorney Mark Rush told U. S. District Judge Katharine Hayden after entering a not guilty plea on behalf of his client.

Prosecutors believe that their California-based company, Wiseguy Tickets Inc., used fraud and computer hacking to buy premium seats sold online on a first-come, first-served basis by Ticketmaster, Live Nation Entertainment Inc., Telecharge and other vendors.

Moreover, the men resold them on the secondary market, grabbing a profit of more than $28.9 million, prosecutors alleged.

The average resale price charged by the men was $30 a ticket; however, they marked up some seats by as much as $1,000 a ticket.