In 1984, Henry Tillman was the man. He twice outpointed Mike Tyson to gain the Olympic heavyweight spot in his home city of Los Angeles, where he won the gold with a deserved decision over heavily-favoured Canadian Willie DeWitt. He had it all: talent, style and looks. He seemed poised to have a major say in the heavyweight division as a pro. Instead, he was destroyed by Evander Holyfield in a WBA cruiserweight crack in 1987 and blown out in a round by Tyson in 1990.
He retired in 1992 with a lacklustre 25-6 (16) record.
Despite a marriage to Gina Owens, granddaughter of the legendary Jesse, wedded life and fatherhood prevented Tillman's ugly plunge into the abyss. On a busy weekday evening in 1996, Tillman stood outside an L.A. nightclub, leant into a car and shot dead Kevin Anderson and seriously wounded Leon Milton - both drug dealers. Tillman shot the men at point-blank range because they had ripped him off over a drug deal.
Gina divorced him. Tillman was convicted and spent many years in jail. "I was in prison six years - 72 months to be exact," he said later. "I can tell you the exact days, hours, minutes and even the seconds because I kept count.
"It's hard to explain what prison was like to somebody who hasn't been there.
"When you are inside you have a lot of time to think. I still think about the guys inside. I wonder what they're doing and what will happen to them.
"In six years, everything on the outside has changed so much. I sometimes wonder how guys who are for 20 or 30 years can cope with coming back into society. It's rough."
Too rough it seems. On Monday, Tillman got 37 months for credit card fraud.
Convicted killer shows his true colours again
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jamesmcdonnell
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 45229
- Joined: 12 Nov 2003, 06:11
probably not if you are a convicted murderer mate.
Whether its right or wrong I dunno but they tend to clamp down hard on re-offenders
implications are he is falling back in with a bad crowd again I guess.
but is constantly locking up and institutionalising someone the answer hmm. probs not but what is?
Whether its right or wrong I dunno but they tend to clamp down hard on re-offenders
implications are he is falling back in with a bad crowd again I guess.
but is constantly locking up and institutionalising someone the answer hmm. probs not but what is?
Well, when I say credit card fraud, he was part of a gang that were cashing counterfeit cheques with fake ID. Authorities said a woman tried to pass a counterfeit cheque to the amount of $2,838 at a Las Vegas bank but fled in Tillman's car after the teller became suspicious.
Police later searched the car and found 18 fake cheques in various company names, eight fake credit cards and six fake driver's licenses
Tillman, and another man, provided the counterfeit cheques and ID to the woman, who cashed the cheques for a 10 per cent cut.
There were five people in the car in total, including the woman - all of whom pleaded guilty to identity theft charges.
Police later searched the car and found 18 fake cheques in various company names, eight fake credit cards and six fake driver's licenses
Tillman, and another man, provided the counterfeit cheques and ID to the woman, who cashed the cheques for a 10 per cent cut.
There were five people in the car in total, including the woman - all of whom pleaded guilty to identity theft charges.
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BunglesFingers
- Heavyweight
After the shooting, Tillman was denied bail and it took four-and-half-years for the case to finally come to court. Near the end of trial, it was revealed prosecutors failed to disclose the full criminal record of a police informant who testified against Tillman.bollocks wrote:That's what I was thinking. 3 years each for the lives he tookDing_Ding wrote:3 years might be quite a long stretch for credit card fraud but only 6 years for murder?
Seems like he got off pretty lightly the first time.
The judge declared a mistrial.
Tillman's attorney ultimately advised him to plead 'No Contest' to the charges and he was given a further 10 months. "The thought of going through another trial...I couldn't do it," said the ex-fighter. "I am not very trusting of the jury system so accepted no contest.
"My attorney told me: 'You can scream I'm innocent for the rest of your life in prison, or you can scream I'm innocent for 10 months.'"
Fingerprints on the roof of the car, which also contained a massive palm print where the gunman apparently leant to reach inside the vehicle, had not matched Tillman's.
But as well as the police informer, two independent witnesses testified Tillman fired the shots that killed.