Promoter, Boxer Guilty of Bribery

A federal jury found promoter Bobby Mitchell and heavyweight Thomas Williams guilty Monday of sports bribery and conspiracy -- the first time a boxer has been convicted in Nevada in a fight-fixing scheme, prosecutors said.

After deliberating for a little over two hours in U.S. District Court, jurors found Mitchell, 42, guilty of paying out more than $70,000 to 11 fighters, including Williams, over five years to pad the record of rising heavyweight Richie Melito Jr. Williams, 35, was found guilty of accepting between $5,000 and $10,000 to deliberately lose a fight to Melito on Aug. 12, 2000, on the undercard of the Evander Holyfield-John Ruiz heavyweight title bout at the Paris Hotel here.

Williams and Mitchell, who face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the two counts, are scheduled for sentencing Feb. 7.

“The public should be able to trust that professional sporting events have not been fixed,” Daniel G. Bogden, U.S. Attorney for Nevada, said in a statement. “By returning guilty verdicts against both men, the jurors in Las Vegas have spoken that criminal conduct of this kind violates an important public trust in the integrity of sports.”

Monday’s verdict came after a three-week trial that included testimony from seven other fighters and three manager-matchmakers who admitted involvement in the scheme to build the record and the earning potential of the New York-based Melito. The scheme was masterminded, according to prosecutors, by the fighter’s father, Richie Melito Sr.

Neither he nor his son, who has not fought since 2001, have been charged in connection with the case.

In her closing argument Monday, assistant U.S. attorney Kathleen Bliss said the elder Melito and Mitchell were on a mission to boost younger Melito’s record to 20-0 by October 2000.

Bliss enumerated fighter after fighter in fix after fix from a list of Melito’s opponents, along with the amount she said each was paid, usually in cash, to take the dive. The amounts ranged from $800 up to $20,000.

The latter amount was promised to Bobby Joe Arthurs for a 1997 match against Melito. Arthurs wound up receiving only $15,000 from Mitchell, according to Bliss.

One fighter, Eddie Curry, testified he was offered $1,500 by Mitchell, according to Bliss, and was told, “If you don’t lose, you don’t get a dime.”

Earlier in the trial, boxer Shelby Gross, scheduled to fight Melito, testified that Mitchell told him, “You can’t win. Go a couple of rounds, fake a shoulder injury and the ref will call the fight. And it won’t look bad on you. It won’t look like you just quit ... and Richie will win the fight.”

Gross testified he later backed out of the fix and the fight was called off.

Mitchell hooked up with Williams through Robert Mittleman, who pleaded guilty last April to being involved in two fixed Williams fights, the one against Melito and a March 31, 2000, match against Brian Nielsen in Denmark. Mittleman said he got $1,000 for his involvement in each fix.

He has also admitted offering $15,000 to bribe a federal prosecutor and judge to get the charges against Williams dropped.

Mittleman, whose sentencing was continued until after his testimony in this trial, told the jury several weeks ago that “Mitchell did not want a real fight. He wanted someone who would lay down for Melito.”

According to Bliss, Mittleman told Williams, “I got you another payday. All you have to do in the Melito fight is the same thing you did in the Nielsen fight.”

Williams was stopped by Melito in the first round.

Under cross-examination, Mittleman said his obvious desire was that his cooperation in the case would result in leniency for him.

“I hope not to do any prison time,” Mittleman said, “but no promises were made to me.”

He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 6.

In his closing argument, Tom Naylor, an attorney for Mitchell, accused prosecutors of not doing their homework.

“They said there might be a bucket of money out there,” Naylor told the jury. “Why didn’t they bring in the bucket?”

Kevin Tate, Williams’ attorney, said that as Mittleman’s “sentencing got continued, his testimony got better.”