Sports In the Courts Blog : New York Attorneys & Lawyers Specializing in Sports Law & Legal Analysis

Former 76er Allen Iverson had no "answer" to a Judge that ordered him to pay approximately $859,896.46 to a jeweler that he allegedly stiffed. Rather than pay the $375,000 bill when he was sued, Iverson ignored the lawsuit, and a Georgia Court entered default judgment against Iverson for $859,896.46, which includes attorneys' fees and interest. As a result, the Court has taken control of Iverson's bank account and will likely garnish his income to repay the debt. 

Iverson has a history of legal and gambling troubles, and in November of 2010, there were rumors concerning Iverson's poor financial situation.  Iverson had surgery approximately a year ago, and was attempting to make a comeback during the NBA lockout. However, it is not clear whether he is currently playing. The jeweler certainly hopes that an NBA team will sign him soon.

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Check out Chris Fusco's contribution to the new Claims Management Magazine.

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At first bankruptcy trustee, Irving Picard, was seeking to recover about $1 billion from the New York Mets' ownership for alleged fictitious profits and claims of fraud. However, a bankruptcy judge dismissed many of Picard's claims against the Mets' owners, leaving about $385 million for Picard to extract.

While the Mets principal owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz have won some early battles against Trustee Picard, now Picard is looking for a game changer. While trial on Picard's Madoff-related claims against the Mets' owners isn't scheduled until this March, Picard wants a victory now.

Last week, Picard filed a motion for partial summary judgment to obtain $83 million of the $385 million from the Mets' owners. By filing this motion, Picard is telling the court that there is no factual dispute that the Mets received $83 million in fictitious profits and those sums (as part of the claim) should be recovered now.

To avoid this outcome, the Mets' ownership, already strapped for cash, will have to convince the court that there are factual reasons why these funds are not owed back the the bankruptcy trustee. Given the unclear financial future of Mets' ownership and their drastically reduced payroll, you have to wonder if the Wilpon/Katz team could even survive an $83 million hit.

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As the Penn State scandal moves along, there are smaller-scale (but perhaps equally significant) incidents coming to light involving sports figures and coaches.

It is being reported that an underage sex sting operation in Florida resulted in approximately 40 arrests, including a swim teacher and former PGA Tour Professional Steve Thomas. Thomas was charged with seducing an underage girl, and using a computer to entice a legal guardian or parent to commit sexual acts on an underage girl.  Apparently, Thomas was caught in an operation set up similar to NBC's "To Catch a Predator," where he attempted to meet with a girl he thought was 13. The swimming coach arrested is Bryan Woodward of the Gator Swim Club. Mr. Woodward coached children of various ages since he was hired in 2010.

Also, a former NFL lineman committed suicide this week, as he was about to enter a plea in Oregon to five counts of sexual abuse and one count of luring a minor. According to the District Attorney, the charges involved three victims, all under the age of 14. 

This kind of conduct is not new, but high profile cases such as Penn State will lead to reporting of additional abusive situations. Locally, a Catholic High School coach was recently arrested for videotaping boys in the shower room. Although there was no evidence of any sexual contact, Immaculata High School's Pat Lott was arrested on multiple counts of endangering the welfare of children. A search of Lott's computer allegedly revealed multiple photographs of underage boys in the shower, and a hidden camera was later found in the shower area. 

 

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Floyd VanHooser, a prison inmate and one of four men who accused former Syracuse Associate Basketball Coach Bernie Fine of having sexual relationships with them when they were children, has admitted that he lied. VanHooser said he wanted to get back at Fine because Fine did not hire a lawyer to help VanHooser fight a criminal conviction. In December, VanHooser told The Associated Press that Fine began sexually abusing him when he was 14 years old, and the abuse continued as an adult, when the contact included sex acts for money.

In a prison interview on Friday, VanHooser said that he and Fine had a sexual relationship as adults for many years, and it continued until last summer. VanHooser said Fine first approached him for sex when he was in his 30s, and that he was usually high on heroin when they had sex. Additionally, on Thursday, The Post-Standard, a Syracuse newspaper, received copies of two letters dated Nov. 29 that VanHooser wrote and mailed to Fine. In the letter VanHooser stated, "In a statement I gave, I told a lot of lies about Bernie Fine. None of what I said was true. Bernie has been nothing but good to me over the years. He was the only thing I had close to a father. He never did anything wrong. He is a good man."

Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, without seeing the letters, said he was not surprised that VanHooser admitted he lied about Fine. In fact, last month Fitzpatrick, referred to an unnamed fourth accuser in the Fine case as someone serving a life sentence in prison and a persistent felon. He said that person's claims were not credible.

VanHooser is serving 16 years to life at Clinton state prison near the Canadian border for several burglaries of Syracuse-area homes. He was sentenced in October as a persistent felony burglar.

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Some scandals just seem to have no end.

Apparently, as disclosed by Penn State President Rodney Erickson, the Penn State Board of Trustees received a “briefing” on the Sandusky Grand Jury investigation three months before Sandusky was arrested. The briefing was allegedly conducted by former PSU President Graham Spanier before he resigned after much criticism of his handling of this incident.

Now, you can take a wild guess on how many non-law enforcement individuals should be “briefed” on secret grand jury proceedings? If you answered “zero”, you are right.

The result, in part, of this bizarre briefing of the PSU Trustees is that a “re-interviewing” process has now begun of Penn State “staffers” by the State Attorney General’s office. Once again, prosecutors will be asking who knew what about Sandusky’s alleged crimes and when did they really find out. In addition, prosecutors will be investigating to determine when Penn State officials “got their stories together” after an improper briefing about what might have been said in the grand jury.

Once again, not good. 

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