Rose Associate Convicted on Drug, Tax Charges
A federal jury Tuesday convicted Thomas Gioiosa of participating in a cocaine ring and conspiring to hide Pete Rose’s race track winnings from the Internal Revenue Service. The verdict bolsters the government’s possible case against Rose, former manager of the Cincinnati Reds who is under investigation by a federal grand jury in Cincinnati.
The jury concluded that Gioiosa had falsely claimed a $47,646 race track ticket that actually was owned by Rose. Rose’s gambling and other sources of income are the focus of the federal grand jury, which is expected to last for at least several more weeks.
Gioiosa, 31, of New Bedford, Mass., could be sentenced to 28 years in prison and fined up to $1.5 million. Judge S. Arthur Spiegel did not immediately set a sentencing date.
Gioiosa admitted during the trial that he had acted as a middleman in cocaine deals with the operators of a gymnasium where he was employed and where Rose trained. Rose was cleared of any cocaine involvement in an FBI investigation of the cocaine ring.
The jury found Gioiosa not guilty of two other counts of filing false income tax returns for 1985 and 1986.
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