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Collector given 12 years in prison for selling phony sports memorabilia
John Rogers

Arkansas collector John Rogers leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse after pleading guilty in a $23 million sports memorabilia fraud scheme, Monday, March 6, 2017. Rogers was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Dec. 20, 2017. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Jason MeisnerContact Reporter
Chicago Tribune

Long known as a consummate sweet-talker, Arkansas collector John Rogers tried one last time Wednesday to use his gift for gab.

Facing sentencing in Chicago for a $23 million sports memorabilia fraud scheme, Rogers issued a rambling, 45-minute statement in a federal courtroom asking for leniency and talking about his downward spiral into drug addiction. He apologized tearfully to his teenage son, spoke eloquently about his failed marriage and promised to help return money to his victims.

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“I have no excuse for it — zero excuse,” Rogers told U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin. “I don’t deserve a break, but I’m asking you for one.”

But the judge didn’t buy it. Moments after Rogers wrapped up his remarks, Durkin sentenced him to 12 years in prison, calling the scope of his decadelong fraud scheme “breathtaking.”

“You literally told thousands of lies to honest people to have them part with their money,” Durkin said.

Rogers, 44, pleaded guilty in March to one count of wire fraud, admitting he bilked dozens of victims through various schemes involving sports memorabilia and photo collections.

He had been free on bond pending sentencing, but Durkin ordered him jailed last month after prosecutors said he continued to sell phony sports memorabilia even after pleading guilty, including a bogus Mickey Mantle 1956 Triple Crown batting trophy and a doctored commemorative football from Super Bowl I.

The new allegations also scuttled Rogers’ cooperation deal with prosecutors that could have cut his potential sentence in half. Rogers had spent more than a year wearing a wire for federal authorities in Arkansas in various drug and fraud investigations, leading to the resignation of one government official in Little Rock but no indictments, Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Owens said.

During the nearly three-hour sentencing hearing, Rogers’ son, John Rogers Jr., sobbed as he told the judge how his father’s crimes have made it difficult to go anywhere in Little Rock without being subjected to ridicule. But despite the embarrassment, he said his dad was “still my hero.”

When it was Rogers’ turn to speak, he turned directly to his son in the courtroom gallery and said he was no hero.

“I’m here to tell you, I want you to raise the bar,” Rogers said.

According to Rogers’ plea agreement, he routinely altered sports memorabilia items to make them appear authentic and used proceeds from the fraud to repay customers who had figured out the items were fakes.

In one instance, Rogers had a trophy company fix a nameplate to a Heisman replica to make it look like it was the authentic 1978 trophy awarded to University of Oklahoma running back Billy Sims, according to court records.

Rogers also created a phony letter, purportedly from Sims, confirming the authenticity of the trophy and sent an email to the investor stating the trophy was valued at up to $225,000, the agreement said.

In 2014, the Tribune detailed in a front-page story how Rogers was being sued in Arkansas over the purchase of the famed archive of Chicago photographer George Brace, who had amassed an astonishing collection of baseball portraits over six decades, capturing Hall of Famers such as Babe Ruth and Ernie Banks as well as little-known players who were in the majors for only a brief period.

Rogers bought the Brace collection in 2012 for $1.35 million from the late photographer’s daughter, Mary. Their contract required Rogers to make a digital replica of each image for Brace’s personal use and gave her the right to take back the collection if Rogers defaulted on the deal.

Court records show Mary Brace won a $780,000 judgment against Rogers in 2015 for defaulting on the contract, but with so many creditors in front of her, it’s unlikely she’ll ever be repaid.

What was left of her dad’s collection, meanwhile, was seized when the FBI raided Rogers’ opulent North Little Rock home in 2013. The 27 boxes of negatives and photos were inventoried by a court-appointed receiver and sold last year at auction for $46,500, records show. The buyer, who owns a digital archiving company based in Lake Barrington, did not return calls Wednesday seeking comment.

Mary Brace said in a victim-impact statement to the court that she’d counted on the money from the sale for her retirement and was now in shaky financial condition. But what upset her most was what Rogers did to “my dad’s legacy,” she said in the letter, a portion of which was read aloud by the judge during the sentencing.

“My dad devoted his entire life to this collection, and Rogers told me he was going to honor it,” Brace wrote.

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com