06-08-04 -- Graessle, Jr., Richard -- Sentencing -- News Release

Sports Memorabilia Dealer Sentenced to Prison for Sale of Bogus "Game Balls"

NEWARK - A sports memorabilia dealer was sentenced today to four months in prison for tax fraud in connection with a former Major League Baseball umpire's authentication of hundreds of baseballs that the umpire falsely represented had been used in notable games, such as Cal Ripken Jr.'s tying and breaking of Lou Gehrig's record for consecutive games played, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Richard Graessle Jr., 43, of Millburn, must also serve four months of house arrest upon completion of his prison sentence and was fined $500 by Chief U.S. District Judge John W. Bissell. As part of his plea agreement with the government, Graessle must pay $101,377 in federal taxes, plus penalties and interest, on income derived fromGraessle's sale of the baseballs to memorabilia dealers.

Last Thursday, Judge Bissell sentenced ex-MLB umpire Alan M. Clark to the same period of incarceration and house-arrest. Clark pleaded guilty on Feb. 23 to a one-count Information charging conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Graessle pleaded guilty on the same day to one count of tax evasion.

In support of the prison sentence for Clark, Judge Bissell said that Clark held a special position of trust as an umpire and used it to commit the fraud.

"This could not have happened without Mr.Clark," Judge Bissell said. "He was the source of authenticity that allowed this to happen."

Today, Judge Bissell said he found Graessle equally culpable in the fraud scheme.

In addition to the Ripken and Gehrig-record baseballs, Clark also falsely represented that other balls he authenticated were used in the New York Yankee's 1978 pennant clincher over the Boston Red Sox; Nolan Ryan's 300th career pitching win with the Texas Rangers, and Dwight Gooden's 1996 no-hitter at Yankee Stadium, among numerous other notable games.

Clark officiated in all of the games in question, and signed most of the baseballs and all certificates of authenticity that went with them. In fact, most of the balls were never used in any of the games and were merely "rubbed up" to look like they'd been in play. Some of the baseballs, which were advertised for sale in sports memorabilia publications, sold for thousands of dollars, even though they were never used in the games.

Graessle, Clark's longtime friend, a freelance sports photographer and sports memorabilia dealer, admitted that he sold the baseballs to other sports memorabilia dealers, who in turn sold them to the public. Advertisements in sports magazines and sports trading publications put the pricetag on some of the Al Clark baseballs at more than $2,000 at the height of their marketability.

In one of the examples described in the Informations to which Clark and Graessle pleaded guilty, Graessle obtained commemorative Ripken baseballs, thousands of which were manufactured specifically to mark the games in which Ripken tied and broke Gehrig's record. They were imprinted with Ripken's team number, had orange stitching (Baltimore Oriole colors), and the number 2,130 and 2,311 embossed on them, representing Gehrig's and Ripken's consecutive-games-played record.

Graessle either mailed the baseballs to Clark or delivered them personally to Clark, who would sign them. They also rubbed the balls with the mud from a particular creek in Burlington County, N.J. - to conform to Major League Baseball's custom of burnishing all balls used in MLB games with that mud - and to bolster their claim that the balls had actually been used in the historic games.

According to the Information to which he pleaded guilty, Clark signed certificates of authenticity that Graessle prepared, certifying that Clark was a member of the umpire crew in that particular game and that the baseballs were indeed used in the game. Graessle admitted that he then sold the balls to dealers who, in turn, sold them to the public - at prices greatly increased by the fraudulent certificates of authenticity. Clark himself prepared some certificates of authenticity in the case of the Ripken baseballs, according to his Information.

Having met with success in the falsification of the Ripken baseballs, Clark and Graessle continued the fraud by falsely certifying the authenticity of baseballs used in other notable games in which Clark had served as an umpire. Those details are further set forth in the Informations to which the defendants pleaded guilty. They are available at the Public Affairs Office website: www.njusao.org

Graessle admitted failing to declare several hundred thousand dollars in income from the sale of these baseballs and other sports memorabilia on his federal income tax returns.

Christie credited the Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation section, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Patricia J. Haynes; and Special Agents of the FBI Newark Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Joseph Billy Jr.

The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Vazquez, of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark.

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Defense Counsel:

Clark: David Fassett, Esq. Chatham

Graessle: Frank J. Crupi, Esq. Livingston