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Sports fraud defendant Panezich pleads guilty
YOUNGSTOWN
A defendant in a sports-memorabilia fraud case has pleaded guilty to multiple charges, and a prosecutor is recommending a range of three to seven years in prison for him.
Clifton J. Panezich, 30, of Henderson, Nev., pleaded guilty Tuesday to aggravated theft, identity fraud, telecommunications fraud, money laundering, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and three counts of forgery with a forfeiture specification.
Panezich appeared before Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, who will sentence him at a later date.
Panezich had been scheduled for a jury trial to begin Jan. 3 on charges of defrauding people by peddling fake sports memorabilia between 2010 and 2015.
The investigation of the ring has been ongoing between Canfield police and the FBI for at least four years.
The members of the enterprise were accused of selling fake autographs of sports personalities on the internet through eBay accounts. They would also sell autographed pictures, balls and other memorabilia.
Some 25,000 customers were defrauded of more than $2 million in the forged autograph scheme, said Martin P. Desmond, an assistant county prosecutor.
Desmond agreed, and the judge ordered, that Panezich could be freed on $100,000 bond and allowed to travel to Nevada to take care of his personal affairs before he returns here for sentencing.
“If you don’t show up [for sentencing], any plea agreements are out the window,” Judge Sweeney warned Panezich, who is represented by Atty. Percy Squire.
An Ursuline High School graduate, Panezich played baseball at Mercyhurst College in North East, Pa., and Martin Methodist College in Pulaski, Tenn.
A catcher and third baseman, he also played for the Sussex (N.J.,) Skyhawks and White Sands (N.M.) Pupfish.
Another defendant in the case, Panezich’s mother, Rose Panezich, 62, of London Drive, Austintown, pleaded guilty to engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity Sept. 20; and Judge Sweeney put her on three years’ probation and fined her $2,000.
Another defendant, Jason E. Moore, 30, of Grove Street, West Farmington, pleaded guilty Dec. 5 to grand theft, telecommunications fraud, identity fraud, money laundering, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and three counts of forgery with a forfeiture specification.
The prosecution is recommending a three-year prison term for Moore when he is sentenced at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 26.
Yet another defendant, Craig Jason McCormick, 33, of Oakview Drive, Girard, or Henderson, Nev., is set for pretrial hearings at 1:30 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Dec. 27 and a jury trial starting Jan. 3.