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Post by 50yardfan on May 21, 2011 20:20:30 GMT -5
www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/21/2227631/ex-owner-of-indoor-football-team.htmlCOVINGTON, Ky. -- The former owner of a defunct Cincinnati indoor football team was sentenced to four months in jail for defrauding a bank after he said he got in over his head trying to "chase his dream" of owning a football team.
Howard Weiner, of Coral Gables, Fla., was sentenced in federal court in Covington, Ky., on Friday and ordered to pay $116,000 in restitution.
The Kentucky Enquirer reported the 50-year-old was the owner of the Marshals indoor football team, which started playing at the U.S. Bank Arena in March 2005. His attorney, Yale Galanter, said Weiner wrote bad checks because he expected to get revenue through the team. But then the National Indoor Football League suspended the franchise.
U.S. District Judge David Bunning called it a classic check kiting scheme.
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Post by 50yardfan on May 21, 2011 20:21:55 GMT -5
news.cincinnati.com/article/20110520/NEWS010704/105210345/Ex-Marshals-owner-sentenced-for-check-scheme?odyssey=tab|mostpopular|text|NEWSCOVINGTON - The former owner of the defunct Marshals indoor football team was sentenced Friday in federal court after admitting to defrauding a bank.
Howard Weiner, who went by the alias H.P. Patterson, was sentenced to four months in jail, five years on probation, and ordered to pay $116,000 in restitution.
Weiner, 50, told a judge he regretted what happened and acknowledged he was "in over his head" trying to "chase his dream" of owning an indoor football team.
"I'm sincerely trying to go down the right path now," Weiner said.
His attorney, Yale Galanter, who has made national headlines defending celebrities from O.J. Simpson to Charlie Sheen, had argued for parole so Weiner could immediately start working to pay the restitution.
The troubles for the Marshals started before the team played its first game in March 2005 at the U.S. Bank Arena, according to the plea agreement.
In what U.S. District Judge David Bunning called a classic check kiting scheme, Weiner began writing checks in December 2004 for a value greater than the balance from an account at a U.S. Bank branch in Northern Kentucky.
Weiner would then write a check from another account at another bank, also with non-sufficient funds. The second check would serve to cover the non-existing funds from U.S Bank.
The purpose was to falsely inflate the balance of a checking account in order to allow written checks that would otherwise bounce to clear.
Galanter said Weiner was acting with honorable intentions because he wrote the checks with the expectations they would eventually be covered as additional revenue came in from the football team. That scheme collapsed when the National Indoor Football League suspended the franchise, Galanter said.
Bunning said by looking at the facts of the case he had no doubt that Weiner was just trying to keep his team afloat but he was concerned that Weiner had prior arrests on charges of writing bad checks.
Prosecutors said Weiner faces other charges in Florida but didn't elaborate on what they were.
Weiner, who now lives in Coral Gables, Fla., has until July 18 to turn himself in at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex, where another of the region's white-collar criminals, Bill Erpenbeck, is being held. Galanter said his client was now operating a "fledgling" boat-related business in Florida
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Post by 50yardfan on May 22, 2011 11:08:30 GMT -5
Former Flying Aces owner sentenced to prison for bank fraudwww.rapidcityjournal.com/news/article_edbc461e-8417-11e0-be3e-001cc4c002e0.htmlThe former owner of the Rapid City Flying Aces National Indoor Football League was sentenced Friday to four months in prison after admitting to defrauding a bank.
Howard Weiner, who had several aliases including Howard Neal, H.P. Paterson and Howard Paterson, was also sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay $116,000 in restitution, according to the Kentucky Enquirer.
Weiner's prison sentence was a result of his financial troubles with another indoor football league franchise, a tale that will sound familiar to those who recall Weiner's issues with the inaugural Rapid City franchise.
Weiner, 50, was the owner of the Cincinnati Marshals of the National Indoor Football League, where he went by the name H.P. Patterson. According to the Enquirer, the trouble started before the Marshals played their first game in March 2005.
“Patterson” began writing checks in December 2004 for a value greater than the balance from a U.S. Bank account. He would then write a check from another account at another bank, also with nonsufficient funds, which would be used to cover the non-existent funds from the U.S. Bank account. The purpose was to falsely inflate the balance of a checking account in order to allow written checks, which would otherwise bounce, to clear.
In 2005, “Patterson” gave up the franchise after players and staff complained they were not being paid.
Weiner's attorney, Yale Galanter, said Weiner was acting honorably because he wrote checks with the expectations they would eventually be covered. The scheme unraveled when reports surfaced that Marshals players and staff were not being paid.
U.S. District Judge David Bunning called the move a "classic check-kiting scheme," according to the Enquirer.
Weiner, 50, told the judge he regretted what happened and acknowledged he was "in over his head" trying to "chase his dream" of owning an indoor football team.
"I'm sincerely trying to go down the right path now," Weiner said.
But he didn't choose the right path immediately after his Cincinnati check scheme. In 2006, Weiner -- then going by the name Howard Neal -- became a co-owner of the Rapid City Flying Aces during their inaugural season in the National Indoor Football League.
The Aces were undefeated and averaging 2,800 spectators per game during that first season, when “Neal” suddenly left town, leaving players, staff, cheerleaders and other creditors unpaid.
Head coach and general manager Dan Maciecjzak accused him of skipping town. “Neal” denied the accusation when reached in Arkansas by the Rapid City Journal, and said that he would return to clear up the mess.
That never happened. “Neal” disappeared for good with an undisclosed amount of team revenue, and the Flying Aces suspended operations after the 2006 season.
Weiner, who now lives in Coral Gables, Fla., has until July 18 to turn himself in at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Coleman, Fla.
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Post by dubs on May 22, 2011 22:45:35 GMT -5
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