Nailing the Dude: Criminal Prosecution of Sports Heroes

At the end of last week, news reports carried the story of the indictment of baseball legend Lenny "Nails" aka the "Dude" Dykstra (pic) the former Mets and Phillies outfielder.  With Dykstra batting in the lead-off spot, the 1986 Mets coasted to the division crown, outlasting the Phillies by 21 games, en route to a 108–54 season. The Mets made it to the World Series after a hard-fought victory over the National League West Champs Houston Astros in the NLCS.  Dykstra will forever be remembered for his walk off home run in Game 3, which is considered one of the biggest hits in Mets franchise history and the definitive moment of Dykstra's career. Dykstra would bat .304 in the 1986 NLCS and later hit .296 in the World Series against the BoSox. However, it was Dykstra's lead off home run in Game 3 of the World Series at Fenway that served as the spark for a Mets team that had fallen behind 2 games to none.  Following Dykstra's home run, the Mets rallied to defeat the Red Sox in seven games in one of the most memorable World Series of all time.

Dykstra went onto to a brilliant career with the Mets and then the Phillies retiring in 1996 except for a Spring Training comeback abandoned in 1998.  Off the field, Dykstra's business acumen and personal conduct repeatedly brought him to the attention of the authorities.  He was arrested by U.S. Marshals and it is said that he'll be prosecuted by the feds for bankruptcy fraud.  This is the LA Times account:

"Former baseball star Lenny Dykstra was indicted by a federal grand jury Friday on charges including bankruptcy fraud and obstruction of justice, for allegedly sneaking away more than $400,000 in property that should have gone to his creditors, then lying about it under oath.  Dykstra, 48, a former Mets and Phillies outfielder known to his fans by the nickname “Nails,” is accused of stealing, hiding and destroying items such as chandeliers, artwork, sconces and sports memorabilia about himself from his $18-million Ventura County mansion, according to the indictment.  He later filed declarations under oath and lied in bankruptcy court about having received money from selling off the items, the indictment alleged.

Dykstra’s attorney, Mark Werksman, accused the government late Friday of 'using an indictment to punish a debtor,' and said the criminal charges were 'heavy-handed and overbearing.  This is payback by the U.S. government to Lenny Dykstra’s resistance to the trustee’s dismantling of his property and assets in the bankruptcy,'  Werksman said. 'When all the facts come out, we’ll show that Mr. Dykstra acted in good faith and behaved properly.'

If convicted of all 13 counts in the indictment, Dykstra could face a maximum of 80 years in prison, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.  Dykstra, who fashioned himself as a financial guru and entrepreneur after retiring from his baseball career, filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2009 when business ventures started failing and debt began piling up. He was soon pushed into court-ordered liquidation by his creditors.

Bankruptcy trustee Peter C. Anderson called Dykstra’s alleged crimes 'an egregious abuse of the bankruptcy system,' and said they would 'not be tolerated,'  according to a statement released by prosecutors. Dykstra’s bankruptcy case remains pending."
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Lance in Maglia Rosa

 As many followers of this blawg know, the Bad Lawyer is an avid fan of professional road cycling and an amateur cyclist himself.  The Giro d' Italia (tour of Italy) began it's 3 week round-about Italy.  I follow this wonderful bike race every year--until realtime coverage came along online, I ordered VHS tapes, and subsequently DVDs (usually arriving months after the race was complete.)  But the delay to see this race, even when the outcome was known was almost always be worth the wait.  In recent years each edition of the Giro featured some drug or cheating scandal effecting the outcome and careers of the participants and race teams.  I believe I wrote about the cheating scandals and ultimately the premature death of the great Italian cyclist, Marco Pantani, Il Pirata.

Largely because of the astounding physical demands on the cyclist, professional bicycle racing is the breeding-ground for all sorts of cheating.  Now, with the confession of cycling cheat and liar, Floyd Landis, many of us who follow cycling are waiting for the indictment (or, perhaps the decision not to pursue charges) against Lance Armstrong.  Some well-placed observers believe that federal charges of wire and mail fraud are imminent.  Allegations against Armstrong relate to hundreds of millions of dollars perhaps involving his ubiquitous Livestrong Cancer foundation  with its iconic rubber yellow bracelet.  The bottom line is the accusation that Lance Armstrong was a "doper," fraud, and perjurer--that millions of dollars changed hands from sponsors and insurance carriers relying on the material representation that Armstrong rode clean. 



Prosecutions of our sports heroes fall into several categories.  There are the offenses connected to the sports performance:  "blood doping" or steroids.  There's sports betting, for example Pete Rose.  Recently there are revelations of sports cheating, gambling and fixing in Sumo wrestling and international cricket matches.  Then there are the non-sports offenses which can be neatly divided into criminal conduct during the playing years and criminal conduct after retirement.  In addition to the drunken and drug-fueled episodes,  there's domestic violence, and sexual misconduct.   Then, there are the financial crimes in which we see guys like Art Schlichter, and now Lenny Dykstra. 

Sports gives men and women who have little else that they can agree on, something to talk about without killing one another.  Until recent years it was possible to follow sports without wishing you had a law degree or lawyer on retainer to explain it all to you.  Well, maybe we should dig into this a little more.  Barry Bonds, Lenny Dykstra, Floyd and Lance....there's just so much to mull over.  Here's is a category of law awash in testosterone and greed--it's almost as bad as politics.

Let's talk sports!

It's All Downhill From Here

The Denver Post is reporting  on a case of Sporting/Bicycling fraud, well, to be precise mountain bike racing fraud.

Cyclistas are very precise about terminology, and "bicycling" is something you do on a bicycle you can pick up at Wal-Mart, while someone who spends more than let's say $800 on something you pedal, is probably a little more dedicated to a particular cycling-pursuit.  With the expensive 2-wheeler, there is a specific style to be adopted and appropriate language to be used.  Someone riding a mountain bicycle is a "mountain biker," some riding a road bicycle is a "cyclist."  There are endless permutations and you risk humiliation and sarcastic contempt if for instance, you wear a mountain bike helmet with it faux brim while rockin' a Pinarello.  Doubt me, read BikeSnob for the lowdown on all the cultural implications of the "curated culture" of all-things-bicycle, better yet buy his new book.  You can also always get the straight story on cycling from the definitive, VeloNews.

One of the more interesting domestic bicycle races is the Leadville 100.  A documentary of this 2009 mountain bike race is easily located somewhere on the internets, I'm sure at YouTube you can look at excerpts from it.  Lance Armstrong won last year's edition on tires that were almost flat, as I recall.  Lance Armstrong, needs no introduction, perhaps the greatest male American road cyclist of modern times, although there is a legitimate argument for oft-litigant, Greg LeMond.  Armstrong is one of the few pros to race mountain bikes and pursue European professional racing.

So back to the case in Leadville.  With the involvement of Armstrong, the profile and the participation in the Leadville race reached a level not previously experienced.  Race organizers had to go to a lottery system to limit participation.  The dedicated female racer Wendy Lyall could not get into the race so she arranged to race under the registration of a mountain biker who did obtain a registration number:  Here's a brief summary of what happened, from the Denver Post:

"It probably would have gone unnoticed except the [Lyall] came in second in her age group, and in front of a thousand people, one . . .[ and] went up and stood on the podium and accepted the award and accepted the trophy and the prizes that went with it," race founder and organizer Ken Chlouber said.  Lyall has been charged with criminal impersonation, a Class 6 felony. [Katie] Brazelton, 40, [who let Lyall use her registration] will face the same charge, District Attorney Mark Hurlbert said. Class 6 is the lowest felony charge.
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That's right, folks you can become a felon for using some one's identity (and letting someone use your identity), for the sole purpose of racing 100 miles across a mountain top,  and win a prize. 

Cycling, and by this I mean professional road racing, primarily professional European cycling is both beautiful and utterly corrupt.  Cycling is fantastic, superhuman, the world's most beautiful landscapes, and cheating like nobody's business.  I love the sport, but it breaks your heart.  I was a big fan or Marco Pantani (pic, right) a brilliant rival of Armstrongs, dubbed, Il Pirata, the Pirate for his bald pate and gold earrings. Pantani won both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France only to be discovered to be a doper.  After his disgrace he died of a drug overdose. 

I love cycling less, now. 

Even the bicycles have evolved into a technology that I find hard to relate to:  carbon fiber with prices no mortal can reasonably be expected to pay.  A fully equipped professional-level bicycle can easily run $15,000 or more.  There are wheel sets, that's right bicycles on this level are assembled from components like high-end audiophile equipment--as I was saying, wheel sets that run $6,000, don't ask if the tires are included, they aren't.  Bike Snob has had fun with the marketing metaphors, one manufacturer says his bike frames are "lighter than milk."  Professional bicycles became so light that the governing body of cycling, has been imposing rules requiring that bicycles weigh at least a certain amount to be "legal."