Three Witnesses Claim Rose Tried to Defraud IRS on Winning Ticket

Pete Rose originated an alleged conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service on a $47,646 parimutuel ticket in 1987, three witnesses said Wednesday at the trial of his former housemate.

Bruce Battaglia, the oddsmaker at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., testified in U.S. District Court that he picked the horses for the Pik Six ticket and said the former Cincinnati Reds manager was the owner of the ticket.

Paul Janszen testified that Rose conceived the idea to have Thomas Gioiosa, who lived with Rose in 1978-83, falsely claim the ticket as his own. He quoted Rose as saying he didn’t want the IRS to know about his track winnings.

Danita Jo Marcum, Janszen’s fiance, also testified that Rose owned the ticket.

All three witnesses agreed that it was Rose’s idea to have Gioiosa cash the ticket and claim it for tax purposes. Gioiosa is accused of claiming the winnings because he was in a lower tax bracket than Rose.

Janszen, a central figure in baseball’s gambling investigation of Rose, said the former manager handed the ticket to Gioiosa when it paid off in the eighth race at the northern Kentucky track.

“Pete said something like, ‘You need to show income (on your taxes),’ ” Janszen testified.

He said Rose later added, “ ‘Hey, I’ve paid enough to the IRS. Why should they get part of my track winnings?’ or something like that.”

Rose is under investigation by a federal grand jury in Cincinnati looking into whether he paid taxes on his income from gambling, autograph appearances and memorabilia sales.

Those who win large payoffs at tracks must claim their winnings on a tax form. The form, introduced as evidence, bears only Gioiosa’s name and social security number. Gioiosa claimed that exact amount--$47,646--on his federal income tax return for 1987 as gambling earnings.