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VII. Summary of the Evidence

B. Summary Of The Testimony Of Ron Peters

The sworn, voluntary, corroborated testimony of Ron Peters, the bookmaker from Franklin, Ohio, establishes that he took bets at $2,000 per game on the Reds and other Major League baseball teams from Pete Rose, and from Tommy Gioiosa, Paul Janszen and Danita Marcum on behalf of Pete Rose. Peters testified that he would not extend credit of $2,000 per game to Gioiosa, Janszen and Marcum personally, but did so because the bets were for Pete Rose. He testified that he received telephone calls from Rose, and from Gioiosa, Janszen and Marcum to place bets for Rose, and that he collected Rose's betting losses from, and paid Rose's winnings to, Gioiosa and Janszen. Peters testified that Rose, through Gioiosa and Janszen, provided tickets to him for the Reds games in 1986 and 1987.

He received a Mizuno bat autographed by Pete Rose when Rose visited Jonathan's Cafe, Peters' restaurant, with Gioiosa and Fry. During that visit, Peters gave Gioiosa $37,000 in winnings for Pete Rose in a back room of the restaurant.

Peters called Gioiosa attempted to pay him in 1986 with three $8,000 checks signed by Pete Rose. Peters stopped taking bets from Rose in the fall of 1986, after the baseball season, because Rose refused to pay him $34,000 from past betting.

Peters testified Gioiosa told Peters that Rose was unable to pay Peters because Rose owed money to a bookmaker in New York.

Peters testified that in mid-May 1987, he resumed taking Rose's bets from Janszen after Janszen gave him a copy of Rose's $34,000 check, dated March 12, 1987, payable to Gioiosa and signed by Reuven Katz, the attorney for Pete Rose. Peters testified that Rose was his only baseball betting customer in 1987. He testified that Rose won $27,000 in May 1987 and $40,000 in June 1987 on baseball games including the Reds He testified that he refused to pay Rose because Rose still owed him $34,000. Peters testified that as a result, Rose stopped betting with him in mid-July 1987. Peters recalled that Janszen tried to collect the $40,000, because Rose was also indebted to Janszen for $40,000. Peters refused to pay Janszen the $40,000 but later gave Janszen three checks totaling $6,000 -- the difference between what Peters owed Rose and what Rose owed Peters.

Peters recorded a telephone conversation with Robert Pitcairn, Rose's attorney, on his own initiative after being contacted by your investigators. Pitcairn was returning a call Peters made to Reuven Katz to find Pete Rose to inform him of your inquiry. During their conversation, Peters was surprised that Pitcairn did not question who Peters was or dispute Peters' statement that he took bets from Rose.

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