Not sure anyone has seen this? ESPN counterfeiters video Greg Marino

[shelly]

Richard,Chris and I talked about the Florida ring. It is estimated that they have sold well over 25 million/ The interesting part about this is the FBI in Florida had it handed over to them from Arizona in a bow. They just walked a way from it.

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by shelly

Richard,Chris and I talked about the Florida ring. It is estimated that they have sold well over 25 million/ The interesting part about this is the FBI in Florida had it handed over to them from Arizona in a bow. They just walked a way from it.

It was handed to them by Tim Fitzsimmons and others.
Physical evidence was provided but little was done.
And the amount quoted by Shelly is not hyperbole. It might not be quite that high but it is quite high nonetheless.
We are pretty sure the Florida ring top people are probably driving Mercedes now.

[shelly]

Richard, that was a rough total from Phoenix over four years ago.

[slidekellyslide]

Does anyone know why the FBI in Florida decided to drop it?

[shelly]

We where told that they where to busy with other things to be bothered with this.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by shelly

We where told that they where to busy with other things to be bothered with this.

Just keep at it. Someone will listen. I believe that recently many FBI agents have probably been assigned to the Las Vegas shooting nightmare. Unfortunately for us collectors there are more important things in life than a fake autograph or card. We can only hope that our few FBI Agents, who do work in our area, are able to convince agents in other regions to take these hobby cases. I don't think that is an easy task, quite honestly.

[thetruthisoutthere]

Originally Posted by Leon

Just keep at it. Someone will listen. I believe that recently many FBI agents have probably been assigned to the Las Vegas shooting nightmare. Unfortunately for us collectors there are more important things in life than a fake autograph or card. We can only hope that our few FBI Agents, who do work in our area, are able to convince agents in other regions to take these hobby cases. I don't think that is an easy task, quite honestly.

I agree, Leon, but this case was started and handed to them on a silver platter over five years ago.

Has nothing to do with recent events.

[SetBuilder]

Originally Posted by Leon

Just keep at it. Someone will listen. I believe that recently many FBI agents have probably been assigned to the Las Vegas shooting nightmare. Unfortunately for us collectors there are more important things in life than a fake autograph or card. We can only hope that our few FBI Agents, who do work in our area, are able to convince agents in other regions to take these hobby cases. I don't think that is an easy task, quite honestly.

Operation Bullpen was a success because of the immense amount of coordination and resources that were expended by law enforcement. Despite all of that, it all hinged on the confidential informants that wore wires and were able to catch the forgers discussing the crime on tape. Had there been no informants and no tapes, they might have walked.

Forgery of sports memorabilia is one of the more difficult criminal cases to prosecute, because autographs can never be authenticated with 100% certainty. Everything is an opinion. Yet, criminal cases are subject to the highest evidentiary burden. It has to be "beyond a reasonable doubt." Being 99% sure someone forged autographs isn't good enough.

These cases drain a lot of resources because of this.