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Panezich sentenced to 6 years in sports memorabilia fraud case
YOUNGSTOWN
A defendant in a sports-memorabilia fraud case has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Clifton J. Panezich, 31, of Henderson, Nev., drew the sentence Tuesday from Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
The prosecution had recommended between three to seven years in prison for him.
Panezich “is the main person in this criminal enterprise,” said Ralph Rivera, an assistant county prosecutor.
Panezich pleaded guilty in December 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 was charged with defrauding people by peddling fake sports memorabilia between 2010 and 2015.
The investigation of the ring had been ongoing between Canfield police and the FBI for at least four years.
Panezich will be on post-release control for five years after he leaves prison.
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, a former assistant county prosecutor.
“It started as a legitimate business and snowballed into what you see before you,” Panezich told the judge as he apologized for his conduct.
Panezich was represented by Atty. Percy Squire, who cited his client’s cooperation with the prosecution and asked the judge to sentence him to probation.
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.
Co-defendant Jason E. Moore, 30, of Grove Street, West Farmington, has been sentenced to three years in prison.
The prosecution is recommending a three-year prison term for another co-defendant, Craig Jason McCormick, 33, of Oakview Drive, Girard, or Henderson, Nev., who has also pleaded guilty in this case, Rivera said.
McCormick will be sentenced at 10:30 a.m. April 25 by Judge Sweeney.