Made Off With Collectibles
The former long-time clubhouse manager of the New York Mets pled guilty on Tuesday, Feb. 21, to stealing almost $2.3 million worth of on-field and game-used team memorabilia and collectibles such autographed jerseys, bats and baseballs and also evading city and state taxes.
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown identified the defendant as Charles Samuels, 55, of Arverne, who began his career with the Mets in 1976, was promoted to equipment manager in 1983 and subsequently became the clubhouse manager and traveling secretary. He was terminated by the Mets organization in November 2010.
Samuels, who has been free on $75,000 bail since his arrest in May 2011, appeared on Tuesday before Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice Barry Kron and pleaded guilty to the crimes of second-degree criminal possession of stolen property and third- and fourth-degree criminal tax fraud.
As part of his guilty plea, Samuels agreed to pay restitution of $20,843 to the state Department of Taxation and Finance, $14,738.35 to the city Department of Finance, $24,955 to Sterling Mets, L.P. (the team’s ownership) and to pay $15,000 in forfeiture to the Queens County District Attorney’s Office.
Additionally, Samuels is banned from three facilities owned and op- erated by the Mets: Citi Field in Flushing; MCU Park in Coney Island, home of the Mets’ minor league affiliate, the Brooklyn Cyclones; and their spring training facility in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Sentencing is scheduled for Apr. 16, at which time Samuels is expected to be sentenced to five years of probation.
“[Samuels] was a once trusted employee of the New York Mets who, by his guilty plea, admits that he took advantage of his position and employers to amass a sports memorabilia collection worth millions of dollars,” District Attorney Brown said in a statement. “On top of that he failed to pay city and state taxes on tens of thousands of dollars that he had received while employed by the Mets. In sum, the defendant had a dream job that any Mets fan would die for-and he blew it. He allowed his greed to get the better of him.”
In pleading guilty, Samuels admitting to knowingly possessing hundreds of autographed and unsigned Mets jerseys, baseballs, bats, helmets and other equipment between
Sept. 1, and Nov. 13, 2007, that had been stolen from Sterling Mets, L.P., and which had an appraised value of $2,282,265.
The Mets property was recovered in November 2010 from the basement of a Madison, Conn., house belonging to a friend of Samuels. In pleading guilty, Samuels stated under oath that he did not possess any other property belonging to Sterling Mets, L.P.
Samuels also pleaded guilty to under reporting the true amount of his income on his 2009 New York State tax returns in order to avoid a tax liability for the year. The indictment specifically charged that Samuels under reported the true amount of the dues and gratuities that he had received from ball players and others.
Brown expressed his appreciation to Sterling Mets, L.P., Major League Baseball’s Department of Investigations, Det. Andrew Bolonka of the Office of Port St. Lucie (Florida) Sheriff Ken J. Mascara, city Department of Finance Commissioner David M. Frankel and his staff, and state Department of Taxation and Finance Thomas H. Mattox and his staff for their assistance and cooperation during the investigation.
The investigation was conducted by Det. Gerard McNally and Sgt. James Baratta of the NYPD Organized Crime Investigation Division, under the supervision of Lt. Christopher Fasano, Capt. John A. Dusanenko and Inspector Brian O’Neill, and under the overall supervision of Chief Anthony Izzo, of the Organized Crime Control Bureau, and by Forensic Accountant James J. Dever, who is assigned to the District Attorney’s Economic Crimes Bureau, and Financial Analysts Andrew W. Risi and Mathew D. Scavetta, of the District Attorney’s Special Proceedings Bureau.
Assistant District Attorney Christine M. Maloney, of the District Attorney’s Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau, prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Gerard A. Brave, bureau chief, and Mark L. Katz, deputy bureau chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Linda M. Cantoni.
