Former umpire pleads guilty in memorabilia fraud....
habs71
Posts: 321
<< <i>Monday, Feb 23, 2004
Former umpire Al Clark pleads guilty in memorabilia fraud case Monday
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Former major league umpire Al Clark pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to commit mail fraud in connection with selling baseballs he falsely claimed had been used in memorable games.
The 56-year-old Clark, formerly of Trenton and now of Williamsburg, Va., had claimed some of the balls were used during games in which Cal Ripken tied and broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive games record.
Clark pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court. Memorabilia dealer Richard Graessle Jr., a 43-year-old from Millburn, pleaded guilty to tax evasion for his role in the scheme, which operated from September 1995 to November 1998.
The pair told U.S. District Court Judge John Bissell that they sold balls that they falsely claimed had been used in several historic games, including Dwight Gooden's May 1996 no-hitter for the New York Yankees, the 1978 AL East tiebreaker playoff between the Yankees and Boston Red Sox and Nolan Ryan's 300th career victory in July 1990.
Clark remained free on $50,000 bail and is to be sentenced June 3. He faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but could be sentenced to as little as probation. He also must pay $40,000 restitution to victims of the scheme as part of his plea agreement. He also could face civil suits from those victimized, according to Bissell.
Clark became a major league in 1977 and was terminated by the commissioner's office in 2001. Baseball officials said he improperly used plane tickets in violation of his union's contract.
© The Canadian Press, 2004 >>
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you've got a dream job that millions of guys across the world would die for and you screw it up by selling baseballs...give me a break
MLB logo at th ebottom of th epage.
I'm gonna sue the AMERICAN LEAGUE!!!
ARRGGH. I HATE crap like this.
POS Clark.
<< <i>Well now this has my hackles up. I have a signed letter from him in front of me, on The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs stationary, claiming this "Commemorative Baseball" ball was used on Sept. 6th, etc., etc... >>
Well, if your ball is one of the fake ones, you do have recourse as
the article states (I'm sure you noticed this) -- "He also must pay
$40,000 restitution to victims of the scheme as part of his plea
agreement."
Y'know what would've been funny? If, when the judge read the guilty
verdict to Clark, he simply yelled, "YYYOOOOOUUUUUU'RRRRRE OOOUUUTTT!!"
.....ok, maybe not.
No wonder fans have chased umpires through the years!!!
Where's this guy live??
I'm gonna go knock on his door!!
<< <i>Where's this guy live?? >>
Well if we're lucky it will be behind bars for awhile.
ANGEL OF HOPE
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TUSTIN CA
I've followed this story through the years. I bought mine in '97 from a very well known and reputable dealer, and we discussed this ball at great length before I purchased it.
It boiled down to depending upon the word of this MLB ump, and the written documentation he supplied. An UMP. A pillar of the game!!!!
It later made news because it was "controversial" because he was said to be walking off the field with all these terrific balls, selling them, yet they really belong to the ball club, YET, umps have been taking balls off of fields for years...unaddressed. Hmmmm....
I never trusted the ball, but I did get "involved" with it. It was a "centerpiece" of my collection...I raved about how special this ball would be in the years to come...stuff like that...hell, I'm MR. BASEBALL around here, and this kinda stuff just doesn't WASH, bad for the image, right??
Geez.
I'll finish this.
I don't like being duped.
Someone gonna pay me.
My ball is signed by not only Ripken and Clark, but Morrison, Kosc, and Barnett, the other umps that worked that game that night. I've compared the signatures on the ball with signatures I've obtained of these umps through the mail, and they match exactly. There's either a master forger here, or we have something more sinister.
It seems to me that there's a larger net that needs to be thrown...if these other umps did sign this ball, there's a conspiracy here, if, in fact, these Ripken balls didn't come from this exact game.
I would love to get in contact with the prosecutor of this case, but I'm having difficulty pinpointing who that is.
What if Cal Ripken Jr. really signed this ball? (It sure looks real to me, and I've been in this business for 20 years.) I want to know this for certain one way or the other. I'll post pics if you'd like, you'll see what I mean...
I want to know every single detail about this case.
Hey Joe Orlando..do a story on this! I'll loan you my fake/real whatever it is! And all the documentation!
<< <i>I would love to get in contact with the prosecutor of this case, but I'm having difficulty pinpointing who that is. >>
HartlandMan>>>>The prosecutor is U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, according to this other article
from USATODAY.COM....
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<< <i>Posted 2/23/2004 6:59 PM
Ex-umpire pleads guilty in memorabilia fraud case
By Wayne Parry, The Associated Press
NEWARK, N.J. — A former Major League Baseball umpire and a New Jersey sports memorabilia dealer admitted selling baseballs they falsely claimed had been used in memorable games, including those in which Cal Ripken Jr. tied and broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive games record.
The umpire, Alan M. Clark, 56, formerly of Trenton and now of Williamsburg, Va., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court Monday to conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
The memorabilia dealer, Richard Graessle Jr., 43, of Millburn, pleaded guilty to tax evasion for his role in the scheme, which operated from September 1995 to November 1998.
The pair told U.S. District Court Judge John Bissell that they sold balls that they falsely claimed had been used in several historic games, including Dwight Gooden's May 1996 no-hitter for the New York Yankees; the sudden-death playoff between the Yankees and Boston Red Sox in October 1978; Nolan Ryan's 300th career victory in July 1990; and others.
"Most of these baseballs never saw the inside of a Major League Baseball stadium," U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said.
Prosecutors said the pair falsely passed off hundreds of baseballs as having been used in historic games. The defendants went to great lengths to make the balls appear genuine, including rubbing them with special mud from a particular creek in Burlington County that is used to take the gloss off all baseballs used in major league games.
Clark signed the balls, and he or Graessle wrote up phony certificates of authenticity. Clark declined to comment as he left the courtroom, and did not speak during the hearing other than to answer affirmatively to a series of questions from the judge and prosecutor.
In order to fabricate some particularly valuable baseballs as having been game-used, Clark used baseballs from his own collection that contained the stamped signature of then-A.L. President Lee MacPhail. Those balls were then sold as having been used in the Oct. 3, 1978 sudden-death playoff game between the Yankees and Red Sox, which was won by Bucky Dent's home run off Mike Torrez to give New York the A.L. East title.
Similar ruses were used to pass off balls as having been used in Ripken's historic games. Graessle purchased from other sports memorabilia dealers balls that were specially manufactured for the games in which the Baltimore Orioles shortstop tied and surpassed Gehrig's streak of 2,130 consecutive games. The balls had orange stitching, Ripken's uniform number 8, and the numbers 2,130 and 2,131, according to court documents.
Similarly, Graessle bought several balls with Ryan's autograph from other memorabilia dealers, and passed them off as having been used in his 300th victory on July 31, 1990.
Other games the pair falsely claimed to have baseballs from included the last game ever played at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium on Oct. 3, 1993; former Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu's first major league game against the Detroit Tigers on July 10, 1997; the first interleague game played at Boston's Fenway Park on June 16, 1997 against the Philadelphia Phillies; and special days honoring Jackie Robinson in Kansas City and Mickey Mantle in New York.
Clark, an American League umpire from 1976 to 2001, remained free on $50,000 bail. He is to be sentenced June 3. He faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but could be sentenced to as little as probation.
He also must pay $40,000 restitution to victims of the scheme as part of his plea agreement. He also could face civil suits from those victimized, according to Bissell.
Graessle admitted failing to declare nearly $400,000 in income from the sale of fake and legitimate sports memorabilia from 1996 to 1998. He agreed to make restitution to the Internal Revenue Service of at least $101,377. He is to be sentenced June 4. >>
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ANGEL OF HOPE
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TUSTIN CA
<< <i> would love to get in contact with the prosecutor of this case, but I'm having difficulty pinpointing who that is. >>
HartlandMan>>> here's the prosecutor's website
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nj/ourusa.html
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ANGEL OF HOPE
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TUSTIN CA
Ken
- Slowly (Very Slowly) Working On A 1952 Topps Raw Set (Lower Grade)
<< <i>Thanks, Skip! I'm on the phone with them right now.... >>
Let us know what they have to say.
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ANGEL OF HOPE
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TUSTIN CA
Thanks again, that was a big help.
Link
All of my baseballs that I sell have been personally obtained along with getting the sigs in front of me.Every single baseball of mine I try to get a picture with the ballplayer too.When they sell I offer a lifetime guarantee of authenticity and encourage PSA/DNA testing if the buyer is in question.
Once I bought a Mantle baseball where the seller said "Oh no problem go to PSA with it.Came with a COA and sure as sh@T it was fake.The baseball was signed on a ball produced around the same time Mickey was on his death bed and was no longer signing.But it had a COA.
Anyhow the seller refunded the PSA/DNA fees and the money for the ball after a few phone calls and emails.At least he did that.
My Auctions
If you did it's from Al Rosen.
What Record of Mr.Al Rosen did Billy Martin break?
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Don't know about you, but I don't view his sentence as much of a deterrent for others.
Source: Orange County Register..06/05/04
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ANGEL OF HOPE
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TUSTIN CA