Doug Allen and John Rogers Cooperated with the Feds!

[WhenItWasAHobby]

Originally Posted by uniship

I remember about 6 or 7 years ago talking to Doug Allen on the phone and he happened to be driving with some really cool historical Mickey Mantle ball that had just been consigned to him. He was telling me about the ball and its history, and I thought to myself "this guy has the greatest job in the world". Now he's facing 10-12 years in prison. un-freaking-believable.

It does boggle the mind how some people who were sufficiently "successful" can make shipwreck of their own lives.

[slidekellyslide]

I visited the Masto offices in Chicago in 2004...there were literally piles of memorabilia and cards everywhere...I wasn't even sure how they were keeping track of what belonged to whom....I remember thinking what an incredible job that must be. Of course they believed they would never be caught or they believed what they were doing wasn't of interest to federal authorities...I don't know, but how do you throw away a kush job like that?

[tennisguy]

Forgive me if this was already answered, but what is Legendary's future?

[ullmandds]

if one were shilled by legendary...can anything be done at this point?

[Matt E.]

Will the obstruction of justice by Doug Allen be viewed differently by the judge compared to others who lie?

If I remember correctly wasn't Barry Bonds convicted of obstruction of justice for his testimony in front of the grand jury during the BALCO steroid scandal?
Bonds received two years' probation, 250 hours of community service, a $4,000 fine and a month of monitored home confinement.


Matt E.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Matt E.

Will the obstruction of justice by Doug Allen be viewed differently by the judge compared to others who lie?

If I remember correctly wasn't Barry Bonds convicted of obstruction of justice for his testimony in front of the grand jury during the BALCO steroid scandal?
Bonds received two years' probation, 250 hours of community service, a $4,000 fine and a month of monitored home confinement.


Matt E.

I'd think the perceived value of Bonds doing community service was a factor. 250 hours of talks about not doing peds by someone who had been a big deal public figure is meaningful.

I can't think of what anyone in the auction biz could offer. Hundreds of hours of talks about "Don't shill and fake memorabilia and REALLY don't cheat the feds on cooperation" seems a bit less interesting in a general sense.

Steve Birmingham

[Runscott]

I met Doug and Mark for the first time, in Cleveland last week. The crime subject never came up - just sat around drinking beer and telling stories. Later, some of us tried to figure how this could have happened. Like most in the hobby, if I find someone personable, it's tough to think of them as criminals.

I believe the answer can be found right here on Net54. We had a thread a while back that discussed whether or not it was okay for some of the big dealers to shill their own auctions, to permit shilling, or for us to bid on their items, knowing that they were shilling. If you go back and read that thread, and try to think of things from the perspective of the accused dealers, and then try to think of things from the perspective of those who defended them, as well as their right to bid in their auctions, things should make perfect sense. Doesn't make it right, but there are enough dealers and collectors who think it's okay to 'play the game', to keep 'the game' going. The Feds are the only ones who seem willing to stop it (and guys like Jeff).

[brob28]

Originally Posted by Matt E.

Will the obstruction of justice by Doug Allen be viewed differently by the judge compared to others who lie?

If I remember correctly wasn't Barry Bonds convicted of obstruction of justice for his testimony in front of the grand jury during the BALCO steroid scandal?
Bonds received two years' probation, 250 hours of community service, a $4,000 fine and a month of monitored home confinement.


Matt E.

From what I can tell from the article the difference is Bonds never agreed to cooperate with the Feds. Allen agreed to cooperate and then obstructed justice by tipping Allen off. Attorney's: could new charges be filed as a result of this?

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

I visited the Masto offices in Chicago in 2004...there were literally piles of memorabilia and cards everywhere...I wasn't even sure how they were keeping track of what belonged to whom....I remember thinking what an incredible job that must be. Of course they believed they would never be caught or they believed what they were doing wasn't of interest to federal authorities...I don't know, but how do you throw away a kush job like that?

Do you still think that "streak bat" was the real deal? I have no idea, but I remember having doubts at the time when the principal supporting evidence was a leading interview with a 90 plus year old Tommy Henrich.

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Do you still think that "streak bat" was the real deal? I have no idea, but I remember having doubts at the time when the principal supporting evidence was a leading interview with a 90 plus year old Tommy Henrich.

Yes, there was more evidence besides Henrich's own word that it was a streak bat. Would I stake my life on it...nope. Nothing in this hobby ever surprises me. It seems unfathomable to me that no one ever thought to ask Joe D what he did with that final streak bat...you would think that his old pal Barry Halper would have asked that question.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

Yes, there was more evidence besides Henrich's own word that it was a streak bat. Would I stake my life on it...nope. Nothing in this hobby ever surprises me. It seems unfathomable to me that no one ever thought to ask Joe D what he did with that final streak bat...you would think that his old pal Barry Halper would have asked that question.

I dunno Dan, you were there and obviously are in a far better position to assess, but between Bushing's self-interest, some aspects of the chronology that just did not add up to me, the "edit" of the Henrich tape, and what we now know of Doug's credibility, I still have my doubts.

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I dunno Dan, you were there and obviously are in a far better position to assess, but between Bushing's self-interest, some aspects of the chronology that just did not add up to me, the "edit" of the Henrich tape, and what we now know of Doug's credibility, I still have my doubts.

Rightfully so...they would have also had to have altered the Louisville Slugger records as well, and the edit of the tape would have had to have been masterful, while they did edit out the long pauses Henrich did state the bat was given to him by DiMaggio.

And you know this taping also got me to thinking about the "gypsies" that burglarized Lionel Carter's house. That whole incident has always struck me as "off"...something is not right about that.

[Brian Van Horn]

Please don't make it a minimum security prison. Here is what I hope they find out during sentencing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBzvMLW0ii4

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

Rightfully so...they would have also had to have altered the Louisville Slugger records as well, and the edit of the tape would have had to have been masterful, while they did edit out the long pauses Henrich did state the bat was given to him by DiMaggio.

And you know this taping also got me to thinking about the "gypsies" that burglarized Lionel Carter's house. That whole incident has always struck me as "off"...something is not right about that.

Yeah, posted my reservations about that particular story a couple of days ago.