Ex-Mets Attendant Took Team Collectibles
The former long-time clubhouse manager of the New York Mets was sentenced on Monday, Apr. 16, for stealing nearly $2.3 million in team memorabilia and collectables and evading taxes.
Charlie Samuels, 55, of Arverne, was ordered by Queens Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho to serve five years’ probation after the former Mets employee pled guilty in February to second-degree criminal possession of stolen property and third- and fourth-degree criminal tax fraud.
As part of his sentence, Samuels agreed to pay restitution of over $20,000 to the state Department of Taxation and Finance, over $14,000 to the city Department of Finance, nearly $25,000 to Sterling Mets L.P., the owners of the ballclub, and $15,000 in forfeiture to the Queens District Attorney’s office.
Samuels is also banned from all Mets facilities, including Citi Field in Flushing, their spring training complex in Port St. Lucie, Fla. and MCU Park in Coney Island, the home of the Mets’ minor league affiliate, the Brooklyn Cyclones.
“[Samuels] betrayed the trust of his longtime employers,” said Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown in a statement. “He had a baseball fan’s dream job, but allowed greed to get in his way. He’s now lost his job and his reputation.”
According to the guilty plea, Samuels knowingly possessed 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 items were 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.
