boxer guilty of fight fixing
Posted: 22 Feb 2005, 09:57
LAS VEGAS -- A federal judge sentenced a former heavyweight boxer Friday to 15 months in prison for being paid to throw fights, including an August 2000 bout at the Paris hotel-casino.
Thomas Williams, 35, of Upper Marlboro, Md., appeared in federal court in downtown Las Vegas for his sentencing on one count of conspiracy and one count of sports bribery.
Before sentencing, Williams told U.S. District Court Judge James C. Mahan that he was broke and took the fight to make money.
"If I could go back to when I took this fight, I never would have accepted it," Williams said. "I would have stayed broke."
Williams stopped short of acknowledging he threw the fight, and his lawyers said they plan to appeal.
A jury convicted Williams, along with boxing promoter Robert Mitchell, 42, of Irmo, S.C., in November for fixing 11 fights from March 1995 to August 2000. The fights were included in the conspiracy charge.
Well-known boxing manager Robert Mittleman, 61, of Oak Park, Ill., testified against the pair after agreeing to plead guilty in the case.
During the trial, Mittleman said he arranged for Williams, also known as "Top Dawg," to lose a bout with Brian Nielsen in Denmark on March 31, 2000.
Mittleman said he received $1,000 and Williams, who lost the fight in the third round, was paid up to $40,000 to throw the fight.
Mittleman said Mogens Palle, a Danish boxing promoter, contacted him to set up the fight. Palle has denied the allegation.
Mittleman also admitted he arranged for Williams to lose an Aug. 12, 2000, bout at the Paris hotel-casino in Las Vegas to enhance the career of New York heavyweight Richie Melito Jr. Williams lost to Melito in the first round on the undercard of the Evander Holyfield-John Ruiz WBA heavyweight title fight.
Neither Melito, nor his father-manager, Richie Melito Sr., have been charged. They have claimed no knowledge of any fights being fixed.
Mittleman said he received $1,000 and Williams was paid $15,000.
During Friday's hearing, Federal Public Defender Kevin Tate argued Williams should receive probation for what he called a minor role in the fight-fixing scheme.
"Mr. Williams has essentially been destroyed, not by his conviction but by the mere allegation," Tate said.
But during sentencing, Judge Mahan said Williams "took the easy way out."
"If you are destroyed, Mr. Williams, it's a self-inflicted wound," Mahan said. "You did this to yourself."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Johnson urged Mahan to sentence Williams to 21 months in prison as a deterrent to other boxers, calling Williams "an example of what can go wrong in boxing."
Tate argued his client's sentence would have no affect on the world of boxing.
"Sentencing him to prison won't clean up boxing," Tate said. "That's a joke."
Williams, who remains out of custody on bond, was ordered to surrender April 8 to begin serving his sentence.
Williams, who last fought in December 2003, lost nine of his last 11 fights, many of them on early knockouts.
Mittleman, who pleaded guilty to two counts of sports bribery and one count of bribery of a public official, received three years probation.
Authorities said Mittleman, who briefly managed Oscar de la Hoya when the boxer turned pro after the 1992 Olympics, had offered an undercover officer $15,000 to bribe the federal prosecutor and judge in the case in exchange for charges being dropped against Williams.
Mitchell is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Las Vegas.
Thomas Williams, 35, of Upper Marlboro, Md., appeared in federal court in downtown Las Vegas for his sentencing on one count of conspiracy and one count of sports bribery.
Before sentencing, Williams told U.S. District Court Judge James C. Mahan that he was broke and took the fight to make money.
"If I could go back to when I took this fight, I never would have accepted it," Williams said. "I would have stayed broke."
Williams stopped short of acknowledging he threw the fight, and his lawyers said they plan to appeal.
A jury convicted Williams, along with boxing promoter Robert Mitchell, 42, of Irmo, S.C., in November for fixing 11 fights from March 1995 to August 2000. The fights were included in the conspiracy charge.
Well-known boxing manager Robert Mittleman, 61, of Oak Park, Ill., testified against the pair after agreeing to plead guilty in the case.
During the trial, Mittleman said he arranged for Williams, also known as "Top Dawg," to lose a bout with Brian Nielsen in Denmark on March 31, 2000.
Mittleman said he received $1,000 and Williams, who lost the fight in the third round, was paid up to $40,000 to throw the fight.
Mittleman said Mogens Palle, a Danish boxing promoter, contacted him to set up the fight. Palle has denied the allegation.
Mittleman also admitted he arranged for Williams to lose an Aug. 12, 2000, bout at the Paris hotel-casino in Las Vegas to enhance the career of New York heavyweight Richie Melito Jr. Williams lost to Melito in the first round on the undercard of the Evander Holyfield-John Ruiz WBA heavyweight title fight.
Neither Melito, nor his father-manager, Richie Melito Sr., have been charged. They have claimed no knowledge of any fights being fixed.
Mittleman said he received $1,000 and Williams was paid $15,000.
During Friday's hearing, Federal Public Defender Kevin Tate argued Williams should receive probation for what he called a minor role in the fight-fixing scheme.
"Mr. Williams has essentially been destroyed, not by his conviction but by the mere allegation," Tate said.
But during sentencing, Judge Mahan said Williams "took the easy way out."
"If you are destroyed, Mr. Williams, it's a self-inflicted wound," Mahan said. "You did this to yourself."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Johnson urged Mahan to sentence Williams to 21 months in prison as a deterrent to other boxers, calling Williams "an example of what can go wrong in boxing."
Tate argued his client's sentence would have no affect on the world of boxing.
"Sentencing him to prison won't clean up boxing," Tate said. "That's a joke."
Williams, who remains out of custody on bond, was ordered to surrender April 8 to begin serving his sentence.
Williams, who last fought in December 2003, lost nine of his last 11 fights, many of them on early knockouts.
Mittleman, who pleaded guilty to two counts of sports bribery and one count of bribery of a public official, received three years probation.
Authorities said Mittleman, who briefly managed Oscar de la Hoya when the boxer turned pro after the 1992 Olympics, had offered an undercover officer $15,000 to bribe the federal prosecutor and judge in the case in exchange for charges being dropped against Williams.
Mitchell is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Las Vegas.