This report is reprinted here with the permission of John Dowd. The contents are Copyright 1989, 1999 by John M. Dowd, Esq. and the Baseball Archive. Any public or commercial use, distribution or duplication of these materials without written permission from The Baseball Archive is a violation of federal copyright law. Use of this site constitutes agreement with these terms. VII. Summary of the Evidence C. Summary Of The Testimony Of Paul Janszen Paul Janszen has given voluntary, sworn testimony, without promise of reward, that in April, May, June and July 1987 he placed bets of $2,000 per game on the Cincinnati Reds and other Major League Baseball teams for Pete Rose with Steve Chevashore, a runner of bets in Florida; with Val, a clerk for a bookmaking operation in New York; and with Ron Peters, a bookmaker in Franklin, Ohio. Janszen testified that Rose gave him the bets in person and on the telephone and that he or his girlfriend, Danita Marcum, called in the bets to Chevashore, Val or Peters. Janszen testified that he paid Rose's gambling losses with cash from Rose, and from his own cash when Rose was short of cash. He testified that he gave the status of bets on baseball games by hand signals to Pete Rose while the Cincinnati Reds were playing, during the time period when the scoreboard at Riverfront Stadium reporting the scores of other ball games was not working. Janszen testified that Rose refused to repay him the $40,000-of his own money which he used to pay Rose's gambling losses. Janszen testified that Rose told him to collect his money from Peters, who owed Rose $40,000 in winnings. Janszen testified that he arranged for tickets with Pete Rose for Peters to attend a Reds game in 1987. He testified that he accompanied Rose on card shows and that he would count and hold the cash paid to Rose, which Rose used to pay his gambling debts. Janszen testified that Rose bet with Ron Peters through Gioiosa in the fall of 1986 on the National League baseball playoffs and other sports events. He recalled Peters refusing to take any more bets from Rose in 1986 because Rose was delinquent in his gambling debts. Janszen testified that he and Marcum were invited and stayed with Rose and Rose's family in Florida for Spring training in 1987. Me testified that while in Florida, Pete Rose introduced him to Steve Chevashore and asked Janszen to place bets on sports events with Chevashore. Janszen testified that in April 1987, at the beginning of the baseball season, Rose asked him to continue placing bets on sports events, including the Reds games and other Major League games. Janszen testified that Rose would often write down the teams on which he wanted Janszen to place bets. He testified that he bet on the Reds and other baseball teams for Rose from April 6 to April 17, 1987 with Steve Chevashore; from April 17 to May 13, 1987 with Val in New York; and from May 17 to mid-July 1987 with Ron Peters -- all at $2,000 per game and all at the request of Pete Rose. Janszen testified that he could not afford to bet $2,000 a game, and that the bookmakers would not extend credit to him for that amount. Janszen testified that in mid-May 1987, Val refused to accept any more bets from Rose because Rose failed to pay his gambling losses. Janszen testified that Chevashore called Rose to collect the gambling losses and Rose told Chevashore that Janszen was betting in Rose's name. Janszen testified that Rose turned to him after the call from Chevashore and told Janszen not to worry because Chevashore was afraid of Janszen. Janszen testified that Mike Bertolini was a photographer, card show promoter and memorabilia salesman, as well as a runner of bets for Pete Rose to another New York bookmaker. Bertolini told Janszen that Pete Rose bet on baseball and was indebted to New York bookmakers. Janszen testified that Rose asked him to contact Ron Peters about taking bets from Rose. Janszen testified that Peters would not take Rose's bets because Rose owed him $34,000. Janszen testified that when he told Rose about Peters' response, Rose gave Janszen a copy of the $34,000 check dated March 12, 1987, payable to Tommy Gioiosa and signed by Reuven Katz, to give to Peters. Janszen testified that Peters told Janszen-he never received any of the money from Gioiosa. Janszen testified that he gave a copy of the $34,000 check to Peters and Peters agreed to resume taking Rose's bets, which included bets on the Reds and Major League Baseball. Janszen testified that Rose won $27,000 from Peters in the first week of betting, which Janszen collected and gave to Rose in cash. He testified that Rose lost $20,000 the second week, and that he collected cash from Rose and paid Peters for the losses. Janszen testified that Rose won $40,000 from Peters during June and early July, but that Peters refused to pay Rose. As a result, Rose stopped betting with Peters. Janszen testified that Rose told him to collect from Peters the $40,000 Rose owed Janszen. He testified that he tried to collect the $40,000 from Peters and Peters refused to pay Janszen because Rose owed Peters $34,000. Janszen testified that eventually Peters paid Janszen three checks for $2,000 each, representing the difference between the amount Rose owed Peters and the amount Peters owed Rose. Janszen testified that those checks are now in the possession of the FBI in Cincinnati. Janszen testified that he placed no more bets for Rose because Rose refused to pay Janszen the money Janszen had expended on Rose's behalf. Janszen testified that he visited Reuven Katz, counsel for Rose, early in 1988 seeking payment of the money from Rose because he needed it to hire an attorney for his criminal case. Janszen told Katz that Rose had bet on baseball. Janszen testified that Katz replied that it was "over" for Pete Rose. Shortly thereafter Katz arranged for a $10,000 check on Rose's account to be paid to Janszen. Katz told Janszen he wanted the check to appear as a loan. Janszen testified that Katz did not ask Janszen to sign a promissory note to Rose and Rose has never sought repayment of the $10,000 from Janszen. Janszen provided copies of letters to Katz and Pitcairn, Rose's counsel, which demand payment by Rose of the outstanding money owed to Janszen by Rose. Janszen admitted trying to collect the debt from Rose, and being upset with Rose for using him and failing to pay the debt, all of which is reflected in the correspondence he voluntarily furnished to us. Janszen admitted tape recording the conversations with Michael Bertolini on April 4, 1988 and with Steve Chevashore on December 27, 1988. Janszen provided copies of Rose's betting sheets in Rose's handwriting which he obtained from Rose's home, and copies of his own notebook recording the bets for Pete Rose from April 8, 1987 through May 13, 1987. [ Previous Page ] [ Next Page ] |