Upshaw History

3 STRIKES FOR UPSHAW?
Remains of Upshaw's ex-wife found
AFTON, Okla. -- A skeleton found last month under a fence on rural property was identified as the ex-wife of Gene Upshaw.
The cause of Jimmye Lee Hill-Upshaw's death is under investigation, said Kym Koch, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
It does not appear the 59-year-old woman was the victim of foul play, Koch said.
Hill-Upshaw married Gene Upshaw in 1967 and later divorced. They had one son, Eugene Upshaw III. Gene Upshaw is the executive director of the NFL Players Association.
The woman did not have a known permanent address, which made it difficult to identify her, Koch said. Authorities believe she visited Grand Lake Mental Health Clinic in Afton earlier this year.
An Afton family member found the skeletal remains Sept. 23.

AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

Copyright 2002, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved

MUR 4210
Respondents: Hoyer for Congress,
William I. Garner, Jr., treasurer (MD)
Complainant: FEC initiated (RAD)
Subject: Failure to file 48 hour
reports
Disposition: $15,000 civil penalty
Note: William Garner is the name of the in-house accountant who recently left the NFLPA, within some close proximity of the new Dept of Labor-IRS 2006 LM2’s vastly more extensive reporting system and references to two sets of Players Inc books have emerged. I feel sure it is the same William Garner.

AN ODD WAY TO MIND YOUR BUSINESS
Author(s): Will McDonough, Globe Staff Date: April 8, 1990 Page: 42 Section: SPORTS
In 1985, Gene Upshaw, then in his second year as executive director of the National Football League Players' Association, was in financial trouble.
According to court documents filed under penalty of perjury by his first wife, Jimmye, and obtained by the Globe, Upshaw owed the Internal Revenue Service $150,000 in back taxes, was in default to banks in the Oakland area on his home and wife's car and, as stated in records, owed more than he was earning. Jimmye Upshaw told the court in her pre-divorce statement that for four consecutive years the banks threatened to foreclose on their primary home because her husband was in arrears on mortgage payments, that her husband failed to report $300,000 of income from the Los Angeles Raiders and that he had reached an agreement on the "unreported" income to pay it back in equal installments over a six-year period. Mrs. Upshaw also claimed that her husband was making $70,324 in net income in 1985 but owe d $26,600 in annual payments on properties in California and Virginia .
Included in the divorce filings was an NFLPA financial statement through Dec. 20, 1985, which says Upshaw made $109,285 from the NFLPA. But in the latest financial filings with the Department of Labor, the NFLPA lists Upshaw's income for its 1985 fiscal year stretching from March 1, 1985, to Feb. 28, 1986, as more than $207,000, a difference of nearly $100,000. So what was Upshaw earning in the course of 12 months?
In September 1988, this reporter wrote a story in the Globe that said the Department of Labor was investigating alleged inconsistencies in the NFLPA's annual financial returns, and that the focus was on Upshaw. It also stated the reports said the matter could be passed on to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution.
For two days prior to publishing that story, this writer tried to contact Upshaw and/or anyone connected to the union who would talk on the record. Frank Woschitz, public relations director for the NFLPA, said he did not know Upshaw's whereabouts. This reporter told Woschitz the story would be delayed another day until someone came forward from the NFLPA hierarchy to discuss the charges. The next day, six phone calls to union officials went unanswered.
After the story appeared, Upshaw offered a statement saying there was no investigation, just a routine audit of the union, and it had nothing to do with him. Five months later, Upshaw called a press conference at the union's Washington headquarters to say he had been exonerated, calling the process a "review" and not an investigation.
Subsequent inquiries by the Globe to the Department of Labor and the Department of Justice showed there was an "investigation" of Upshaw, and that the Department of Labor passed its findings on to the Department of Justice, which, after three months of investigation, decided not to proceed.
At the time, Plato Cacheris, a top Washington criminal attorney hired by Upshaw, said the matter involved $100,000 listed "incorrectly" in the NFLPA's financial books as a "loan" when Upshaw was actually owed the money by the union as back pay and vacation pay. Under law, no union can loan an officer $2,000 or more without fines and penalty. The man who filed the financial reports for the union, Bill Garner, has worked for the NFLPA for years. Did Garner not know it was illegal to make a $100,000 loan? Did it take three years for the union to discover the mistake, with the help of the Department of Labor?
In the past year, the NFLPA has filed amended reports for 1985, 1986 and 1987. It filed in June 1989 for those three years. It filed another set for those three years in September 1989, and now it says it will refile for the same years this month. That will place on the record four reports each for the years 1985, 1986 and 1987. Which ones are correct? By law, intentionally filing an incorrect financial report (called an LM-2), could subject the unions to fines and possible jail time for those responsible.
When the Globe story ran in 1988 concerning the possible investigation of Upshaw and union funds, Upshaw said his contract was for five years and called for a $125,000 annual salary starting in 1985. Upshaw said the agreement gave him 10 percent annual increases.
Yet the NFLPA financial statements regarding Upshaw's pay, given to the court in California under pain of perjury, list his salary at $109,285, or $9,083 per month.
The same financial statement says Upshaw was owed $140 in vacation pay and $143 in sick leave. It mentioned no other money owed to Upshaw. The financial statement is supposed to contain all money due Upshaw, so the judge, in assessing the settlement of the divorce, has all income figures at hand. Cacheris said in 1989 that Upshaw was owed the money in deferred salary by the NFLPA. The NFLPA statement given to the California court does not list $100,000 owed to the union executive director.Upshaw's contract was done.
"I was a go-between," Condon explained. "I did not really negotiate the contract. I went back and forth between the executive committee and Gene trying to get something that was fair. I called the other unions to see what their guys executive directors were getting paid. As I remember it, we gave Gene a $5,000 bonus, then $120,000 for that year, making it $125,000 for that year, then 10 percent a year after that."
Condon was then asked specifically, "Were there any other bonus arrangements in the contract?" He answered then, "No, the other stuff was about severance, insurance and things like that."
However, when the Globe interviewed Upshaw and assistant executive director Doug Allen in the union's Washington office three weeks ago, Upshaw said he got a $40,000 bonus, the difference between his one-year contract that had expired (it called for him to be paid $85,000) and the new contract calling for $125,000. When he was asked to show the contract, Upshaw refused. When he was asked to show the work papers between Upshaw and the Departments of Labor and Justice, Upshaw again refused.
The following week, when the Globe contacted Condon about the $40,000 bonus Upshaw received in 1984, he said there was such a bonus, and in fact, he said he had a copy of the contract in his office. Upshaw and Allen both said the week before there was no "contract," just letters of agreement. Condon said he would produce the contract. After several calls, he said he was having trouble finding the contract.
The questions I have include: Why should Upshaw get a $40,000 bonus when he was already getting a $35,000 raise? Why would the union give him a $5,000 bonus when it was already giving him a $40,000 bonus? Why wasn't this agreement put in writing? Why would Upshaw fail to show his contract when one of the primary functions of the NFLPA is to give contracts to agents and players so they can compare salaries of other players, to be used in negotiations against the owners?
In trying to decipher the LM-2 financial returns of the NFLPA, the Globe hired Gary Edwards of Hanover, a certified public accountant with 16 years of government service before he entered private practice. The last five years he worked for the government, Edwards' area of expertise was union LM-2s. In studying the returns of the NFLPA, Edwards said they were the worst he had ever seen, and that there were easily 100 inconsistencies in the reporting from one year to another.
Under the direction of Upshaw and Allen, the NFLPA led the players into a 24-day strike in 1987. During that period, the NFLPA told the players everyone had to tighten their financial belts and be prepared to take some losses. Each player lost four game checks, or 25 percent of his income -- on average, about $60,000 per player. Top players like Joe Montana and Dan Marino lost in the area of $200,000 each. Union workers who talked to the Globe said the office help was told they, too, had to take less.
Yet, according to the LM-2s on file by the NFLPA, both Upshaw and Allen received substantial increases in 1987 over the year before and, during the same period, the union purchased three new cars worth a total of $69,000 for its officials.
After the strike of 1987 ended poorly for the players, the union leadership pursued their cause in courts. A court decision last year went against the union in its attempt to get unrestricted free agency. In November, Upshaw announced that the union was going to decertify and, in effect, become a trade association.
Last week, the NFL owners went to court to try to get a judge to decide whether the NFLPA is a union or a trade association.
At the time of the strike, the players were paying in excess of $2,000 annual dues. Between the dues and royalties received from NFL Properties, the union has been averaging in the area of $4 million a year in income. The record shows that during the last two years, with a total income in the area of $8 million, the union gave $400 in charitable contributions.
As part of a trade association, the players, according to statements made by the NFLPA, will be asked to contribute $1,000 per man next season. As a trade association, the NFLPA will not have to give a public accounting, as unions must to the Department of Labor.
In early 1988, George Martin of the New York Giants and Mike Davis of the Los Angeles Raiders interviewed some people at NFLPA headquarters in Washington to get a better handle on how Upshaw and Allen were running the union day to day. Martin was president of the union. Davis was a vice president and a former teammate of Upshaw.
According to the workers, they believed their comments to Martin and Davis would be kept confidential. Two women, Rita Raymond and Valerie Thomas, both shop stewards in the union office, cooperated. Neither was a disgruntled employee. Both enjoyed working with the NFLPA, liked Upshaw personally, and had no idea that helping Martin and Davis would lead to their being fired.
Thomas and Raymond were told they were being laid off as a reduction in force. Weeks later, they were informed they were fired for slandering the union and that they would not receive any benefits. Thomas and Raymond went to arbitration, and the arbitrator ruled that they should be restored to their previous employment status with full benefits and back pay. The union to this day refuses to put them back on the payroll, and Thomas has since filed a $5 million lawsuit against the NFLPA and another local union.
Given all of the above facts and things told to the Globe by former union workers and former players, it looks to me as though Upshaw ran the union as if it were his own business, he was often not at the office, and Allen ran the show for him.
These people say they are afraid to speak on the record, that they do not want to get involved.
"These people Upshaw and Allen always seem to get it their way," said one former union employee. "Like during the strike, they had those NLRB people National Labor Relations Board employees in our office running around like they were conducting the strike. Sometimes they even helped dictate some of the press releases we sent out. Gene is big in Washington . Don't kid yourself.
From: http://www.fec.gov/pdf/record/1996/mar96.pdf

NFL UNION HIT BY SUIT FIRED WORKERS SEEK $7.5M
Author(s): Will McDonough, Globe Staff Date: May 23, 1989 Page: 65 Section: SPORTS
Two former employees of the National Football League Players Association have sued executive director Gene Upshaw and the union for $7.5 million, charging abusive discharge and defamation.
"We are also going to amend the complaint to include racial and sex discrimination charges," said John Fauntleroy, a Washington , D.C. , attorney who represents Valerie Thomas, a former NFLPA personnel analyst and the plaintiff in the suit along with Rita Raymond. We didn't want it to come to this," said Ron Thomas, Valerie Thomas' husband, who is acting as her co-counsel. "The union does not leave us any other choice. Valerie has already gone to arbitration and won her case. She was supposed to be reinstated with back pay, but the union refuses to do it."
According to Ron Thomas, his wife was let go in March 1988 even though she had seniority.
"Gene Upshaw told her he was letting her and some of the other women in the office go due to cutbacks following the player strike of 1987," Ron Thomas explained. "Then a month later, he sent Valerie another letter saying she was let go for just cause. It was at this point that Valerie decided not to just sit there and take it."
Reportedly, the union let go six women, five of whom were black. Three to date have reached out-of-court settlements. Thomas and Raymond went to arbitration and won their case, which sought reinstatement and back pay.
"Then the union refused to take them back," said Ron Thomas, "so now we have taken the case to federal court." Thomas says his wife has also filed race- and sex-discrimination charges against the union and Upshaw with the Equal Employment Opportunity office in Washington .
"Almost everyone let go was a woman and black," says Thomas. "It didn't matter that they were in a union and had a collective bargaining agreement. My wife is a shop steward, and within six months after the strike, all three women that were shop stewards were let go.
"Gene Upshaw is a powerful man in Washington . He sits on the AFL-CIO national board, yet he didn't pay any attention to the rights of my wife and the other women."
In 1987, under Upshaw's leadership, the players in the National Football League went on strike for 24 days. When the season ended, many of the players were disgruntled and stopped paying dues. Others said too much money was being spent in the union office, compared with other professional sports unions.
Cutbacks came at the NFLPA office in March, but Thomas and Raymond maintain that the white management people were protected, and the black office workers were let go, despite protection afforded them in their collective bargaining agreement with the union.
"There is a clear pattern in what happened," said Ron Thomas, "and when this case gets to court, we will show what really happened.

QUESTIONS LEFT UNANSWERED NFLPA CASE MAY BE CLOSED, BUT DETAILS OF EVENTS BEG FOR EXPLANATION
Author(s): Will McDonough, Globe Staff Date: February 19, 1989 Page: 56 Section: SPORTS
There are still many questions about the audit/review/inquiry/investigation of Gene Upshaw and the National Football League Players Association, but unfortunately, it appears the answers won't be forthcoming now that the case is closed.
This is nothing new with the NFLPA, certainly in regard to getting at the truth or the right answers. This reporter wrote a story last Sept. 11 saying the union, and Upshaw in particular, was under investigation by the US Department of Labor. The story, quoting unidentified Washington sources, said the investigation was probing possible misuse of union funds by Upshaw. The story also speculated that the matter could be turned over to the Department of Justice.
Last week Upshaw called a press conference in Washington to announce he had been exonerated by the US Attorney's office, and said his problems were the fault of the Boston Globe and Fort Wayne ( Ind. ) Sentinel, who were "trying me by headlines." The Globe had only one story about Upshaw and his problems with union funds. It was half the length of a normal news/sports story.
On Sept. 9, two days before the story ran, this reporter called Upshaw at his Washington office and gave the information to NFLPA public relations director Frank Woschitz. Woschitz was asked to get Upshaw or any other officer in the union to respond. Woschitz said he would try. This reporter told Woschitz that he would hold the story for 24 hours, waiting for a reply. More than a dozen phone calls were placed to Upshaw, union headquarters and Woschitz over the next 24 hours, and none were returned. To this day, they haven't been returned.
The day after the story, Upshaw initially said there was no truth to it. Later he acknowledged the union was undergoing "a routine audit" and that he was not the focus.
In December, the Fort Wayne paper ran a story saying that Upshaw was about to be indicted on tax evasion charges. Early in January, TV reporter Tony Martinez of ABC's Washington affiliate aired a three-part series on Upshaw and his troubles with union money.
Last week Martinez wanted to be assigned to the press conference at which Upshaw announced he had been "exonerated," but wasn't invited. "Doug Allen union vice president called my station and said if I was at the press conference, Gene would refuse to speak," said Martinez .
Martinez was not assigned, but it was a smart play by the union, because if he had been there, Martinez would have known enough to ask Upshaw the following:
Is it not a fact that it was more than a routine audit by the Department of Labor? Is it not a fact that the Department of Labor found enough questions to forward the case to the US Attorney's office in Washington ? Didn't the US Attorney's office conduct an investigation that lasted from October to February? Didn't the investigation focus on $100,000 of union money that went to Upshaw in 1987? Didn't Upshaw initially tell the Department of Labor investigators the money was a loan? Didn't Upshaw later switch his story to say that it was not a loan but deferred compensation owed him? Didn't the Department of Labor investigators tell Upshaw it was illegal for a union official to take an interest-free loan? Isn't it true that Upshaw did not pay tax es on the $100,000 until it became part of a settlement with the US Attorney's office?
Interesting questions. Still claiming it was a routine audit, Upshaw hired Plato Cacheris, one of Washington 's most prominent attorneys. Cacheris' clients have included Spiro Agnew and Fawn Hall.
Last week Cacheris said the investigation focused on the $100,000 of union money, and that when the union adjusted its LM2 forms (annual financial reports to the Department of Labor) to change the loan to deferred compensation, the US Attorney's office closed the investigation, considering the reporting error by the union an "honest mistake."
At an NFLPA press conference three days before the Super Bowl in Miami , union counsel Dick Berthelsen said the organization's officers, including Upshaw, did not take any pay during the 24-day player strike of 1987. Under Upshaw's direction, the striking players lost four paychecks, or one-fourth of their salaries, an average of more than $50,000 per man.
The amended annual NFLPA financial report indicates that Upshaw not only took all of his salary in 1987, but received a raise from $157,500 to $164,500, not counting the $100,000 in deferred compensation.
According to the most recent NFLPA statements, Upshaw's total compensation from the NFLPA in the strike year of 1987 was $264,500, compared to $157,000 the previous year. According to the LM2 report, Allen, Upshaw's righthand man, received $43,640 in 1986 and $67,350 in 1987.
Perhaps, as they claim, the union officers did not receive any pay during the strike, but their financial reports indicate they more than made up for it during the course of the year.

UPSHAW FOCUS OF INQUIRY
Author(s): Will McDonough, Globe Staff Date: September 11, 1988 Page: 57 Section: SPORTS
The National Football League Players Association reportedly is being investigated by the US Department of Labor for possible wrongdoing.
Washington sources say the focus of the investigation is union executive director Gene Upshaw. The sources claim Upshaw illegally misused union funds and tried to conceal his actions. One source familiar with the investigation said Upshaw, reportedly with the knowledge of union board members, received an increase in salary but never revealed it and reportedly didn't pay taxes on the raise. Sources say the Labor Dept. is completing its investigation and will decide whether to place the matter in the hands of the Justice Dept., the Internal Revenue Service, or both.
Upshaw, who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987, has headed the union for six years. Last year he led the players in a 24-day strike. At present, there is no collective bargaining agreement between the owners and players, and the union is trying to pursue a remedy through the courts.
The Globe contacted NFLPA headquarters Friday and asked for a response to the reports from Upshaw or any union official. NFLPA director of public relations Frank Woschitz said he would try to contact Upshaw and get a response. Yesterday there was no response from Upshaw or any other union official.
TAX EVASION CHARGES AGAINST NFLPA'S UPSHAW?
Author(s): Associated Press Date: January 13, 1989 Page: 76 Section: SPORTS
FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association, faces possible tax evasion charges, according to a published report yesterday.
The Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, citing a congressional source familiar with a Labor Department investigation of the union's financial records, reported that the Justice Department is considering criminal charges against Upshaw. The newspaper said a Justice Department internal memo "strongly suggests" that there is sufficient evidence to indict the former player.
The Boston Globe reported on Sept. 11 that the Labor Department was investigating Upshaw for possible misuse of union funds. That story quoted sources saying the Labor Department was considering turning the matter over to the Justice Department.
Upshaw was not available for comment, but a union source called the story "old hat."
A Washington television station, WJLA, reported Wednesday night that the Labor Department concluded its year-long audit of NFLPA records and passed some of the information to the Justice Department.
At issue, the source said, is a "six-figure loan" to Upshaw from the NFLPA. "There is some discrepancy about whether the money was a loan, salary, compensation or whatever."
The source also said it is likely the Justice Department will recommend that the Labor Department proceed with a determination on possible civil charges against the NFLPA. Union officials last year confirmed that the association was being audited, but referred to it at various times as "routine" and "random."
"We've been fully cooperating with a routine audit by the Department of Labor for nearly a year and we are confident that when the process is completed, the NFLPA will be found to be in compliance with all applicable law," Doug Allen, the union's assistant executive director, told the Associated Press yesterday.
Frank Woschitz, director of public relations for the NFLPA, told The News- Sentinel its information was "just rehashing a lot of the stuff the media started bringing up a few months ago.
UPSHAW FOCUS OF INQUIRY
Author(s): Will McDonough, Globe Staff Date: September 11, 1988 Page: 57 Section: SPORTS
The National Football League Players Association reportedly is being investigated by the US Department of Labor for possible wrongdoing.
Washington sources say the focus of the investigation is union executive director Gene Upshaw. The sources claim Upshaw illegally misused union funds and tried to conceal his actions. One source familiar with the investigation said Upshaw, reportedly with the knowledge of union board members, received an increase in salary but never revealed it and reportedly didn't pay taxes on the raise. Sources say the Labor Dept. is completing its investigation and will decide whether to place the matter in the hands of the Justice Dept., the Internal Revenue Service, or both.
Upshaw, who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987, has headed the union for six years. Last year he led the players in a 24-day strike. At present, there is no collective bargaining agreement between the owners and players, and the union is trying to pursue a remedy through the courts.
The Globe contacted NFLPA headquarters Friday and asked for a response to the reports from Upshaw or any union official. NFLPA director of public relations Frank Woschitz said he would try to contact Upshaw and get a response. Yesterday there was no response from Upshaw or any other union official.

AN AWKWARD MOMENT
Author(s): Mark Blaudschun Date: September 13, 1988 Page: 78 Section: SPORTS
FOXBOROUGH -- Sometimes timing is everything. Just ask NFL Players Association assistant executive director Doug Allen.
A day after a report in the Sunday Globe stated that NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw and the union were being investigated by the US Department of Labor, Allen made a trip to Sullivan Stadium to talk to the Patriots about paying their union dues. Allen's reception was mixed, with several veterans, including linebacker Andre Tippett, running back Craig James and guard Ron Wooten skipping his meeting entirely.
The Patriots have hardly worn the union label since last year's strike. Tight end Lin Dawson, the team's player representative, has been trying to give the job to someone else. We need a union," said one player. "But not these guys who are running it."
Coach Raymond Berry said the hamstring injury suffered by tight end Russ Francis might not be as serious as first thought. The Patriots feared that Francis, who pulled the muscle in the first half of Sunday's 36-6 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, might be sidelined for several weeks. "It really doesn't feel that bad," said Francis yesterday. "I hope I might be back ready to go in a week against Houston ." Berry said Willie Scott will start in Francis' spot this week against Buffalo . There is also a possibility that rookie tackle Tom Rehder could be moved to tight end as insurance for Scott and rookie Steve Johnson.
General manager Patrick Sullivan says he is hopeful that the final details of the transfer of ownership to Victor Kiam and Fran Murray can be completed this week. "There are a few things dangling," said Sullivan. "But I hope we can get things wrapped up." . . . After looking at films of the Viking game, Berry said he felt the difference between the two teams was not that great. "We're very much capable of beating them," said Berry . "If we played them next week, we'd be right there.
Tampa Bay coach Ray Perkins reportedly had a little chat with players' union chief Gene Upshaw regarding some unkind remarks about quarterback Vinny Testaverde last week. Upshaw, in essence, said Testaverde was no genius and questioned if he could play in the NFL. Upshaw admitted he never had talked to Testaverde, and had met him once just long enough to shake hands. He was apologetic.
At the time, Plato Cacheris, a “well connected” Washington criminal attorney hired by Upshaw, said the matter involved $100,000 listed "incorrectly" in the NFLPA's financial books as a "loan" when Upshaw was actually owed the money by the union as back pay and vacation pay. Under law, no union can loan an officer $2,000 or more without fines and penalty. The man who filed the financial reports for the union, Bill Garner, has worked for the NFLPA for years. Did Garner not know it was illegal to make a $100,000 loan? Did it take three years for the union to discover the mistake, with the help of the Department of Labor?
These two names Plato Cacheris, a top Washington criminal attorney hired by Upshaw and Bill Garner figure in to Upshaw’s 2006 and 2007 difficulties. Plato Cacheris was William Hundley’s law partner. Bill Hundley was the Department of Justice’s gambling sell out to the NFL the guy who used his considerable influence within the Dept of Justice to protect the NFL from gambling prosecutions by the Dept of Justice. Hundley took $2,000,000 from Resorts International to form Intertel a gambling security company whose only two clients were the NFL and Resorts International a gambling company who owned casino’s in the Bahamas.
“…Hundley and his former subordinate at Justice, Robert D. Peloquin, then Hundley’s partner with NFL Security, sent Rozelle a confidential memorandum about the Redskins matter. The memorandum was signed by Peloquin and included in the confidential Senate report.
Peloquin wrote that he learned that the grand-jury investigation was going to begin in four days and would primarily concentrate on McCaleb and McGowan, whose houses had been raided by IRS agents in early January. He added that both gamblers were represented by Washington attorney Edward Bennett Williams, then president of the Washington Redskins. According to Peloquin, Williams dropped the case “when he learned of the potential conflict in interests.”
Replacing Williams as counsel was Plato Cacheris, a former chief assistant U.S. attorney in Virginia, who later became Hundley’s law partner. Peloquin wrote that Cacheris “will do his best not to embarrass the league.”
Subsequently, Peloquin and Hundley met with Henry Peterson, Hundley’s successor as the chief Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section, who assured them “no NFL players would be called before the grand jury without (the NFL) being advised beforehand,” according to the Senate report, Petersen became an associate in Hundley & Cacheris when he left government service.
Hundley told (author Dan Moldea, who wrote Interference, How Organized Crime Influences Professional Football ) that he and Peloquin had simply gone to Petersen to find out whether anyone involved in professional football was a target of the grand jury investigation. “I simply told him that if the department needed anything, I would supply it. If they needed information from anyone, I would deliver them.”
The NFL, IRS, and the Justice Department investigations stopped dead right there.
What we’ve got here,” another IRS agent who was also involved in the NFL gambling probe says, “…are connections among Cosa Nostra, the federal government, the big attorneys in the D.C. area, sports figures, and the television news media. And it is still going on. We were getting close to the people at the top. Nesline was being protected by people within the Justice Department.”
Brian Gettings, the former U.S. attorney who prosecuted (Gil) Beckley (Pete Rozelle’s bookie consultant who mysteriously disappeared), confirms that NFL Security intervened in Alexandria, VA on behalf of the Redskins players and “prevailed upon the prosecutor not to subject them to the embarrassment of the grand jury process.”
Three bookmakers were convicted and sentenced to prison on racketeering charges in this investigation named “National 125 Baltimore” by the IRS. Neither Nesline nor any Redskins player was charged.
“Nesline was D.C. crime boss Joseph “the Possum” Nesline…affiliated with infamous syndicate members, including…Meyer Lansky…Nesline can be characterized as a major force behind illicit gambling in the Washington Metropolitan Area with ties to virtually all the city’s major gambling figures.”
It is my belief (Parrish’s) that Plato Cacheris, and his DOJ friends saved Gene Upshaw from criminal prosecution by the IRS and Dept of Justice and from that point forward the NFL owners have had Upshaw on the leash that Bryant Gumbel referred to in his recent comments.

I also believe Upshaw’s criminal defense attorney Plato Cacheris’ brother is James Cacheris the Virginia judge who ruled against NFL agent Carl Poston in favor of Upshaw and the NFLPA on the issue of whether or not Roger Kaplan is a biased NFLPA arbitrator. Wouldn't you think he would have recused himself from Poston's NFLPA/Upshaw case?

Another issue: Why does attorney Steve Saxon of the Groom Law Group get to buy $6,600 worth of Super Bowl tickets from the NFLPA? Is that an abuse of his position and an abuse of discretion on the part of whoever in the NFLPA approved selling him those Super Bowl tickets? Can anyone just call up and buy $6,600 worth of Super Bowl tickets from the NFLPA? NFLPA attorney's get special privileges? Who else gets special privileges? Did Upshaw approve this abuse of power transaction?