Fake Billy Sims Heisman was part of $22.7M fraud
A smooth-talking sports memorabilia dealer defrauded “multiple individuals” with a phony Billy Sims Heisman Trophy, one of “the many frauds” he committed to finance his lavish lifestyle, federal prosecutors have told a judge.
The victims of his admitted scheme lost $22.7 million, prosecutors allege.
John M. Rogers, 44, of North Little Rock, Arkansas, pleaded guilty in March to one wire fraud count involving the phony Heisman Trophy. His sentencing is set for Nov. 20 in Chicago.
Prosecutors are asking U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin to impose a punishment that will send a message to other individuals in the industry, “where fraud and deception is all too common and where confidence men prey on the unwary.”
They recommended Rogers be sentenced to at least 11 years and nine months in federal prison for his conduct. They also recommended he be ordered to pay $22,762,620 in restitution to his victims.
Rogers is seeking a fiveyear prison sentence. On Friday, his attorney asked for the sentencing to be delayed because of new accusations.
Prosecutors told the judge that Rogers became rich, building a five-story mansion with a pool, batting cages, secret rooms and an elevator. They wrote in a sentencing memorandum that the fraud went on for years and involved “various sports memorabilia items that he knew were not authentic because he had either created the items himself or altered them to make them appear authentic.”
Those faked items included the phony Billy Sims Heisman Trophy, a phony Mickey Mantle baseball card, phony vintage baseball jerseys and a phony 1994 NBA AllStar Game MVP trophy, according to the memo filed this week.
How it worked
The scheme also involved tricking investors with phony documents into believing he had contracts to buy collections of sports memorabilia or photo archives and “just needed the cash to complete the profitable deal,” prosecutors wrote in the sentencing memorandum.
“This was persistent, intentional, sophisticated fraud,” prosecutors told the judge. “Rogers demonstrated utter disregard for his victims in telling them baldfaced lies . ... His goal was simple, fool the victims with false promises and use their money to finance a folly rooted in narcissism and greed.”
Rogers was president of Sports Cards Plus and Rogers Photo Archives, which were based in North Little Rock. After being charged last year, he wrote on Facebook, “I made hugely regretful, shameful mistakes, clouded in the daily haze of drug addiction, that I am ready to acknowledge and accept.”
In pleading guilty in March, Rogers admitted he bought an honorary Heisman Trophy given in 1960 to the longtime emcee of the annual banquet. He admitted that he then altered the trophy with a fake nameplate to make it look like the authentic trophy awarded Sims.
“I knew it was wrong. I did it anyway,” he said, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Sims won the Heisman in 1978 when he was a running back for the University of Oklahoma. He later played professionally for the Detroit Lions. He is now involved in a successful chain of barbecue restaurants.
Prosecutors told the judge that Rogers was able to fool investors with the fake trophy because it is well known in the sports memorabilia industry that Sims is one of the few recipients to have sold it.
Under a plea agreement with prosecutors, Rogers was charged with defrauding only one investor with the fake Heisman. That victim, who was not identified, loaned Rogers $100,000 in 2012 and accepted the trophy as collateral.
Rogers purchased the honorary trophy in 2009 for $50,363, records show. After altering it, he claimed it was worth as much as $225,000.
Prosecutors revealed in their sentencing memo that he used the same fake Heisman Trophy to con at least three other investors. As part of the scheme, he created a fake letter of authenticity and forged Sims’ signature.
“Over the years, Rogers became a master at forging signatures of celebrities and sports figures on memorabilia, and the signatures of business executives in bogus contracts,” prosecutors told the judge.
Rogers became widely known in sports memorabilia circles in 2008 when he purchased at auction one of the most soughtafter baseball cards in the world, a 1909 Honus Wagner card. His winning bid was $1.62 million.
His second business involved purchasing the photo archives of The Detroit News, the Minneapolis Star Tribune and other major newspapers across the country in hopes of selling the images of sports figures for a profit. Prosecutors reported his estimated returns on selling the images “did not come to fruition.”
The Oklahoman did not sell its archive to Rogers’ business, although Rogers once falsely represented that he had secured a contract for the photos, according to prosecutors.
The Oklahoman donated its old photos in 2012 to the Oklahoma Historical Society.
New accusations
The new accusations against Rogers are that he continued to create and sell phony sports memorabilia through a girlfriend even after pleading guilty. He disputes the new accusations.
His defense attorney also filed a sentencing memorandum this week. The defense filing reveals that Rogers has extensively cooperated with law enforcement after FBI agents raided his home and businesses in 2014.
“He met with, and recorded, suspects in public corruption, drug and fraud investigations,” his attorney told the judge. “Because of Rogers’ assistance, a member of the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory, a law enforcement arm of the state, was removed from his position.”
Rogers acknowledged in both his plea agreement and in the defense sentencing memo that he cheated multiple victims over many years.
The defense attorney claimed Rogers only turned to fraud because of unexpected difficulties in his photo archives business. “He was drinking heavily and using cocaine every day,” the attorney wrote in the defense filing.
“Each fraudulent transaction was an attempt to pay someone else back,” the attorney wrote. “His plan was to preserve America’s history and for his investors to profit. To save his plan, he became involved in this offense.”