Bill Mastro To Plead Guilty

[Eric]

Former sports collectibles king Bill Mastro, known for Honus Wagner card, will plead guilty to fraud
Mastro will apparently acknowledge at the February hearing that he altered the world's most valuable trading card, a Honus Wagner T206 that has fetched millions of dollars in a series of high-profile transactions, including a 1991 sale for $451,000 to NHL legend Wayne Gretzky and former Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall.

BY MICHAEL O'KEEFFE / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

PUBLISHED: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012, 7:45 PM
UPDATED: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012, 10:43 PM

Bill Mastro will sign papers that change his plea from not guilty to guilty.

Bill Mastro, the one-time king of sports collectibles who was indicted on a count of fraud in July — and accused of trimming the world’s most expensive baseball card — has agreed to plead guilty to fraud.

Mastro, the founder of Mastro Auctions and once the most important figure in sports memorabilia, has signed the plea agreement that changes his not-guilty plea to guilty, according to papers filed in Chicago federal court by the United States Attorney's office for northern Illinois.

Prosecutors Nancy DePodesta and Steven Grimes asked the court to set a change of plea hearing for early February. Mastro's attorneys support the request, the papers said.

"I have said all along that we intend to resolve this without a trial," said Michael Monico, one of Mastro's attorneys. "Bill Mastro is cooperating with the government."

Mastro pleaded not guilty in July after a federal grand jury handed down a 16-count indictment that said the former king of cards and his associates Doug Allen and Mark Theotikos routinely defrauded customers, rigged auctions and inflated prices paid by unwitting bidders.

Allen was also indicted on 14 counts of wire and mail fraud, while Theotikos was indicted on six counts of wire and mail fraud. Allen and Theotikos have both pleaded not guilty. A former Mastro Auctions employee, William Boehm, was charged with one count of making false statements to the FBI agents who investigated the company's practices. Boehm has also pleaded not guilty.

Mastro will apparently acknowledge at the February hearing that he altered the world's most valuable trading card, a Honus Wagner T206 that has fetched millions of dollars in a series of high-profile transactions, including a 1991 sale for $451,000 to NHL legend Wayne Gretzky and former Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall.

The card, christened as the "Gretzky T206 Wagner," was on loan to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown until March. Its latest sale was to Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick, who paid a record $2.8 million for the card.

It has long been believed in the collectibles hobby that the Gretzky T206 Wagner had been altered, which would significantly reduce its value to collectors.

In "The Card: Collectors, Con Men and the True Story of History's Most Desired Baseball Card," Daily News reporters Michael O'Keeffe and Teri Thompson reported that Mastro bought the Wagner card in 1985 at a Hicksville, L.I. collectibles shop for $25,000.

The card, which O'Keeffe and Thompson reported had been cut from a printer's sheet, was further trimmed by Mastro to make it appear as if it has been carefully preserved for decades after it was removed from a pack of cigarettes in 1909.

The upgrade not only improved the appearance of the card, but it increased its value significantly and helped spark the trading card and sports memorabilia boom of the 1980s and 1990s.

Monico said Mastro has been soliciting character references from collectors and dealers that will be submitted to the judge who ultimately sentences Mastro after he pleads guilty.

Some hobby insiders, however, say that they are reluctant to express support for a man they suspect ripped them off — especially since, they say, Mastro does not appear to accept responsibility for his actions.

"Just when I thought Bill Mastro could not be a more brazen and unrepentant criminal, he's now going to victims of his fraud asking for letters to be read at his sentencing," says New York attorney Jeff Lichtman, a longtime vintage card collector.
"He's claiming that he was indicted due to people with axes to grind. He's delusional."



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-...#ixzz2DgFhbaBO

[Eric]

Not sure if people saw this, but the BIGGEST NAME IN SPORTS AUCTIONS (at one point) IS PLEADING GUILTY TO DEFRAUDING CUSTOMERS.

I thought someone- ANYONE- would have something to say.

I'll say thank you to the feds.
I'll also say, I'd love to know how many of us had our bids padded by some of these auction house folks. Besides trimmed cards, I'd love to know what else was modified...
Eric

[staindsox]

Not sure if people saw this, but the BIGGEST NAME IN SPORTS AUCTIONS (at one point) IS PLEADING GUILTY TO DEFRAUDING CUSTOMERS.

I thought someone- ANYONE- would have something to say.

I'll say thank you to the feds.
I'll also say, I'd love to know how many of us had our bids padded by some of these auction house folks. Besides trimmed cards, I'd love to know what else was modified...
Eric

Bleached cards.

[jppopma]

Good news. Hopefully this type of activity will help curtail some of the other fraud that is going around in our hobby as well. Thanks Eric for keeping up on this and sharing the news.

[gorilla777]

It's also not looking good for Allen and Theotikos and their not guilty plea. Their defense attorneys have to be grasping for a settlement at this point.

And thru all this, Legendary Auctions continues to run, as does VSA after Jensen's takedown? Strange....

[joelsabi]

It's also not looking good for Allen and Theotikos and their not guilty plea. Their defense attorneys have to be grasping for a settlement at this point.

And thru all this, Legendary Auctions continues to run, as does VSA after Jensen's takedown? Strange....

I guess its similar to JO. JO has to have some way to pay the fines/attny fees

I recently got an email from PSA stating they passed the 20 million mark in slabbed material. The Card as you all know was the first. I first heard the rumor about the the CARD being trimmed at the 1996 National and I am sure the rumor has been around even longer.

[sox83cubs84]

They're also still traveling the show circuit. Mark T. was at a Legendary Auctions both at the recent 3-day show in suburban Chicago. I personally like the guy, but it does seem odd that those awaiting trial/hearings are still carrying on business as usual.

Dave Miedema

[esquiresports]

This may seem a little backward, but given their current circumstances, I'm hopeful that Legendary is actually now one of the cleaner auction houses. I really hope so since I just purchased a pretty expensive jersey in the Nov. 29 auction! Of course I did a lot of research into the particular jersey (and it's from the Dreier collection, which I understand is very solid).

[frikativ54]

...Mark T. was at a Legendary Auctions both at the recent 3-day show in suburban Chicago. I personally like the guy...

Mark Theotikos routinely defrauded customers, rigged auctions and inflated prices paid by unwitting bidders.

I don't mean to put you on the spot, Dave, but what is there to like about Mark Theotikos? He does not seem like an honorable man, and based on the quoted article, I hope he and his cohorts are punished to the fullest extent of the law.

[trsent]

I don't mean to put you on the spot, Dave, but what is there to like about Mark Theotikos? He does not seem like an honorable man, and based on the quoted article, I hope he and his cohorts are punished to the fullest extent of the law.

I'll answer this before Dave does.

Les, if you ever met Mark in person and had a conversation with him he was always friendly and very personable. Easy to get along with and very intelligent. I saw Mark at a St. Louis show a few months ago. Talked business for a minute as I forgot he had this over his head and all I thought is what a nice guy he is.

Whatever charges he faces doesn't mean they aren't friendly in person and I can vouch for Dave's comment - Mark was always a pleasure to be in the presence of in person.