FBI, in Boxing Probe, Reportedly Tried a ‘Sting’ Tactic on Don King

The FBI used an Abscam-type sting operation in 1983 in which an undercover agent posed as a wealthy fight promoter in an apparently unsuccessful attempt to infiltrate boxing and catch promoter Don King committing illegal acts.

Working with people connected with boxing--including a reputed organized crime figure and a Brooklyn civil-rights activist--the undercover agent met with King and made a secret recording of the brief meeting. No charges have been filed against King as a result of this operation. King, however, was indicted last month in a separate investigation on charges of conspiring to evade federal taxes on more than $1 million in income.

The undercover operation, part of the FBI’s ongoing, four-year investigation of boxing, was an attempt by the FBI to infiltrate boxing and King’s operation. By arranging business deals with King, the FBI may have believed it could catch him committing acts of bribery, extortion or skimming.

“It would be inappropriate for us to comment at this time with regard to any undercover operation that may have been conducted by the FBI,” Lane Bonner, a spokesman for the FBI in Washington, said about the King affair.

On the advice of counsel, King refused to comment.

The undercover agent, Victor Quintana, worked with Reggie Barrett, who was known as a “hanger-on” by people in the boxing business. Barrett often boasted of a friendship with former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali. Quintana and Barrett created a bogus fight promotion company--TKO Promotions--and made it known that they had a bankroll of $7 million to $10 million. Sources said an Illinois bank claimed that the two did have millions of dollars on account.

The two started by letting it be known in boxing circles in New Jersey and New York that they were interested in getting into the business of promoting big-time bouts as fast as they could, and that they were willing to spend huge sums of money to get their way.

Assisted by another boxing figure, Chet Cummings, an occasional trainer and promoter in New Jersey, they met reputed organized crime figure John Franzese, who was attending a fight in Atlantic City with his son, Michael. They believed that Franzese could arrange a meeting with King.

Franzese asked his son, an independent movie producer, to set up the meeting. Through various contacts, a friend of King’s, the Rev. Al Sharpton--a Brooklyn civil-rights activist and president of the National Youth Movement, a black self-help, civil-rights group--was asked to act as an intermediary. He called King and the meeting was arranged for Dec. 12, 1983.

The meeting was attended by Sharpton, King, and Michael Franzese. After they met with King first to assure him that TKO had money and was willing to spend it, Barrett and the FBI agent, who wore a hidden body recorder to tape the conversation, joined the group.

Part of the recording of the encounter between Barrett, the FBI agent and King was obtained by Newsday. In that portion, King said he was on his way to Puerto Rico, where he was promoting a fight, and would then be in Cleveland. King agreed to consider a proposal but said he wanted to wait to hear from Michael Franzese. Franzese, who apparently was unaware of the sting operation, decided not to do any business with Quintana and Barrett in boxing promotions.

Quintana used a tape recorder with a voice-activated microphone. As a result, the tapes are unclear and contain much small talk between Quintana and Barrett, street noise and even sounds that may be flushing toilets. No specific offers to King could be heard.

Barrett was arrested recently on cocaine-dealing charges and was imprisoned in South Carolina, state officials there said, when he was taken from the Charleston county jail by federal marshals. He is believed to still be in custody, one official said.

The sting operation used by the FBI against King by setting up TKO Promotions followed along the lines of Abscam--the FBI sting operation of 1980-81 in which members of Congress were arrested for accepting bribes from an agent who posed as an Arab sheik.