Mastro and Allen Indicted

[travrosty]

probably right, when they agree to cooperate, like mastro did, they are required to tell ALL about what they know about illegal activity 100%, no holding back. and the feds are serious about it. wayne bray had to spill the beans about everything he knew, and they made him aware that they werent going to tolerate him holding back. I am sure mastro was a wealth of information.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by travrosty

probably right, when they agree to cooperate, like mastro did, they are required to tell ALL about what they know about illegal activity 100%, no holding back. and the feds are serious about it. wayne bray had to spill the beans about everything he knew, and they made him aware that they werent going to tolerate him holding back. I am sure mastro was a wealth of information.

How are they going to "require" someone to tell all? Maybe water boarding?How are they going to know if there is a shred of info not being told? My guess is the Feds base their decisions on what info is gained, not what is not gained. My understanding is that there are quite a few ex-employees that have given information. I think that is where a lot of it comes from....oh, and the subpoena's handed out....those probably rake in bit of info too. And the authorities probably talk to a lot of people in the hobby who aren't right in the middle of the issues. But these are all just educated guesses and maybe a tiny bit of first hand knowledge. As I told a good friend a few days ago, if I know something bad in the hobby, I have no issue sharing that with the proper authorities. I truly want this to be as clean of a hobby as is possible. I hope all of my friends feel the same way.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I think all Travis means is that if the Feds believe Bill isn't fully cooperating, they may not be lenient with him, and that would incentivize him not to hold back.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I think all Travis means is that if the Feds believe Bill isn't fully cooperating, they may not be lenient with him, and that would incentivize him not to hold back.

I can agree with that of course.

[calvindog]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I think all Travis means is that if the Feds believe Bill isn't fully cooperating, they may not be lenient with him, and that would incentivize him not to hold back.

Cooperators are required to discuss ALL of their criminal activities, not just what reates to the case at hand. The government may want to make new cases with that info. Plus, a defense lawyer for a client who knows Bill so well most likely knows about a lot of this unrelated criminal activity and will surely cross examine Bill on it during the case. If Bill holds back his cooperation deal could be ripped up and he'd spend a longer time in jail before being released and going back to washing the lepers' feet. Bottom line: the Feds don't need Bill's cooperation to convict Doug so if Bill has an ounce of a brain left in his sainted head he'd best come clean.

Which means: whoever else conspired with Bill on a crime which was either Mastro Auctions-related or not should be very nervous right now.

[Misunderestimated]

From what I can tell these guys hired fairly big name, and therefore expensive, criminal defense lawyers out here.

Unless they have prior criminal records I would ultimately expect assorted plea agreements that might bring others down and would lead to penalties -- fines and perhaps agreements barring them re-entering the sports memorabilia business for a while or life -- but no real prison time.
What may be brought to light along the way could of course expose them to civil liability if the harmed individuals want to pursue it and that's way the plea agreements are a rather tricky test for the charged parties and their lawyers.

This will become yet another part of the saga of the card, Wagner T206, in general. The specific "altered" card will no longer universally acclaimed as the "best one" -- it will remain the most famous specimen.

T206 Wagners generally will continue to be the "most famous, most valuable, and rarest baseball card" (yes I know its not the rarest by a long shot and that a certain low end Wagner is not more valuable that the highest end of specimen of some other cards but that's the narrative to the outside world)

[calvindog]

I disagree with nearly all of that.

[Misunderestimated]

Originally Posted by calvindog

I disagree with nearly all of that.

That's fine.

[T206DK]

Originally Posted by Misunderestimated

From what I can tell these guys hired fairly big name, and therefore expensive, criminal defense lawyers out here.

Unless they have prior criminal records I would ultimately expect assorted plea agreements that might bring others down and would lead to penalties -- fines and perhaps agreements barring them re-entering the sports memorabilia business for a while or life -- but no real prison time.
What may be brought to light along the way could of course expose them to civil liability if the harmed individuals want to pursue it and that's way the plea agreements are a rather tricky test for the charged parties and their lawyers.

This will become yet another part of the saga of the card, Wagner T206, in general. The specific "altered" card will no longer universally acclaimed as the "best one" -- it will remain the most famous specimen.

T206 Wagners generally will continue to be the "most famous, most valuable, and rarest baseball card" (yes I know its not the rarest by a long shot and that a certain low end Wagner is not more valuable that the highest end of specimen of some other cards but that's the narrative to the outside world)

someone will be doing some time in prison for this.....how long, remains to be seen. High priced lawyer or not. Tip of the iceberg most likley

[WhenItWasAHobby]

I was once told by a Federal law enforcement agent that they only indict people when its pretty much a slam dunk of getting a conviction. Of course the Clemens trial proved that wrong, but that could be explained away by relying on Andy Pettite, graduate of advanced studies from the Frank Pentangeli School of Witness Testimony. See training video below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90XT5GWlKaE