FBI: Forgers' gains will be lost

Forgers who use the proceeds of their work to improve their material lifestyle will have those luxuries taken away. Greg and Angelo Marino, forgers and central figures in the Operation Bullpen case in which 26 figures and subsequently 10 more were busted and, because of their indiscretions, forfeited their house, boat and bank accounts.

Tim Fitzsimmons, FBI agent in charge of Operation Bullpen, said the law allowed for those things to be taken away to send a clear message to people engaged in this activity. "It's not going to pay," Fitzsimmons told Sweet Spot. "There's a clear message here: You're going to jail and you're going to lose everything. If you show the house was purchased with the proceeds of criminal activitiy, then it's forfeitable. The application of this law used to apply only to drug matters, but it's now been expanded to a large portion of federal crimes," including forgeries. Prosecutors must show that what someone is forfeiting was acquired with the proceeds of criminal activity.

While a handful of the perpetrators from Bullpen still await sentencing, others are finishing prison terms from the sting operation out of San Diego. Fitzsimmons said he was confident that these offenders would steer clear of the illegal activity that got them in a fix in the first place."A majority of the people who've been convicted in this case, I feel, are reforming themselves as opposed to the other crimes I've investigated," he added. "I get sort of a good feeling about this. One store owner who was selling this stuff for several years had a son who was a policeman in another city. He immediately confessed and said he was totally embarrassed about this. He sold his house and store and sought out his customers and moved in with a relative. That's the extreme of the rehabilitation, but it's a little indicative about how some of these people have felt." The confiscated inventory remains in storage, but eventually will be appropriately marked and given to charities. Law enforcement authorities have not yet begun that process. "We will mark out the forgeries, if we can't wipe it off, which is the case with the jerseys and baseballs," Fitzsimmons said. The distribution will occur after the U.S. attorney's office completes the prosecutions. Of the 36 individuals who've been prosecuted 31 have have been sentenced. Sentences ranged from 18 months to a little more than four years.

While Fitzsimmons is pleased with a number of steps to legitimize the sports memorabilia business - witnesses at signings, authentication procedures, producers using more controls - he's noticed a "bigger problem" with Hollywood celebrities. "The more we learn about that industry it appears to be much more corrupt than the sports (memorabilia) industry," he said. The reason, he explained, is that sports celebrities are more involved in the sports autograph business. Players get paid for signing appearances. So, forgeries are an affront to that business. Entertainers are less immersed in autographs as a business, thus, actors and actresses devote less attention to the collectibles industry. "There's no interest in the industry for actors and actresses," Fitzsimmons said. "They're not selling autographs." The dilemma involved in witness authentication is that there's a cost involved. People who obtain autographs in person figure they're paying an admission and that their experience is authentication enough. If disposing the item in the future is a possibility, fee-based authentication may come into play. Fitzsimmons acknowledged, though, that there always will be signings that aren't accompanied by somebody standing there witnessing the signature. "Those things generally aren't a problem with regard to forgers because they are mostly doing the vintage players."

Fitzsimmons was pulled from memorabilia matters following the September 11 attacks. With three hijackers tied to the San Diego area, Fitzsimmons and others locked in on investigating terrorism. In recent months, his attention is back to the business of forgeries. Stay tuned.

Read MORE about the autographed sports memorabilia business in the June/July 2002 issue of Sweet Spot newsletter. Subscribe today!