Promoter Faces Charges From Memorabilia Show : Sports collections: The district attorney’s office accuses the operator of the Pasadena convention of grand theft, fraud and writing bad checks. Fans and celebrities are among the alleged victims.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has filed 20 felony charges of grand theft, fraud, and writing bad checks against Paul Howard Hammack, alias Ernest Dent, for allegedly bilking sports fans and celebrities such as Mickey Mantle and Don Drysdale at a Pasadena sports memorabilia show in September.

In all, about 400 memorabilia collectors, several businesses and 13 sports celebrities were cheated out of more than $200,000 at the show, Pasadena police said, based on information obtained during a four-month investigation.

At a news conference Friday, police officials displayed 786 items of memorabilia they had retrieved from former associates of Hammack, according to Pasadena Police Cmdr. Gary Bennett.

Hammack, who used the name Dent at the time of the show, is in federal custody in Los Angeles on an unrelated fraud charge in Texas, and will be sentenced next week in that case.

After the sentencing, Hammack will be brought to Pasadena for arraignment on the new charges, Bennett said. If convicted on the California charges, he could face a maximum of six years in state prison, according to Deputy Dist. Atty Nancy M. Naftel.

Hammack was also charged with false impersonation in the complaint, filed Thursday, for using the name Ernest Dent.

The real Ernest Dent, reached in West Germany, said he was surprised to learn his boyhood friend from South Charleston, W. Va., had used his name. He said he hoped there were no personal repercussions.

“I’m afraid to come home,” Dent said. He and Hammack attended the same elementary school, Dent added, but had had no contact in many years. The only thing he could remember about Hammack, Dent said, was: “We used to play a lot of baseball.”

Hammack’s attorney, Stephen R. Kahn, said he was unaware of the latest charges and had no comment.

The Sept. 7-9 show was believed to be the largest of its kind in Southern California, and attracted thousands of sports fans. Once the event was over, business owners seeking payment for printing, security, travel and other services found Hammack’s “Baseball Legends” office in Glendale abandoned. Then, Bennett said, celebrities began notifying Pasadena police that checks they received for their appearances had bounced.

Among the victims named in the complaint were seven sports celebrities, including former Dodger Ron Cey, who got two bad checks totaling $5,500, and Don Drysdale, who received a bad check for $5,000. Former Chicago Cubs star Ernie Banks was given a bad check for $30,000, while Yankees legend Mickey Mantle was given a $16,436 check that bounced.

In all, bad checks and unpaid bills totaling $207,480 have been identified, according to police officials, who also retrieved various items of memorabilia valued at $44,818.

Alleged victims of the scam said they had been waiting for prosecutors to act on the case.

“I feel really happy there’s still justice in this country,” said Maria Marin, owner of Golden Earth Graphics, which remains unpaid for $22,725 in printing services. She said the small Highland Park company is struggling to survive as a result of the loss.

Former Dodgers third baseman Cey added: “I’m pleased this has gone forward.”

“The investigation was long and drawn out, and involved a great deal of work,” Bennett said, standing beside an investigative report that numbered 1,012 pages. Behind him were several Yankees shirts autographed by Mantle, bats and balls signed by several players, autographed pictures of sports stars and boxing trunks signed by Muhammad Ali.

Three large cardboard boxes contained items people had sent to “Baseball Legends,” the name of Hammack’s business. The items were sent in response to advertisements that, for a fee, they would be autographed and returned.

In the course of their investigation, police found that Hammack, under the name Dent, had previously run a coin telephone venture in West Virginia that went bankrupt. West Virginia officials also consider Hammack among those responsible for misusing thousands of dollars in government job-training funds.