Bamboozled Read online

  While most of the boxing business establishment before him consisted of black men like Don King or were associated with established organized crime, Bob Arum is a Jewish man who was born into relative wealth. A former attorney for Senator Kennedy, he has contracts with Telefutura, a Spanish TV network, ESPN, and pay-per-view. He brings new fighters to market by bringing them up in ratings on Spanish television before being brought to pay-per-view in the U.S. It was Sean’s job to make sure to “secure the investment.”

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  The fight in Livermore was to take place at an Indian Casino. Joey was handed credentials and asked to walk the fighter into the blue corner. He says the winning Top Rank fighters were always in the red corner and they’d usually keep the same coach in the blue corner all night long.

  Joey sat in Trampler’s hotel room as they ran down the operation. Joey claims Trampler was connected to the New York mob family, which further increased respect he had for Bruce’s professional acumen. They became “close” and that closeness seemed to get Joey all of the favors that Top Rank did for him. As they were chatting after the fight, Sean summoned Joey to room 344.

  In room 344 Joey says he found some girls having sex with up-and-coming boxers. Joey claims he saw Top Rank attorney Scott Woodworth cutting fifty or so coke lines. Scott had been an attorney for Don King and had managed Terry Norris to win the WBC Junior Middleweight. Scott introduced Joey to his brother Ryan, whom Joey had already met as a prisoner in Soledad. Scott complained that Todd Debouf was pressuring Mr. Arum to have him fired.

  Scott asked Joey to sit down and supposedly said “Fuck Top Rank. I will handle your comeback and will give you half a million to fight Orlin Norris for a bogus title that you will win.” Sean shrugged his shoulders. Top Rank was only paying Joey $20,000.

  Joey returned to Vegas in the morning with Sean. Scott went back to San Diego. Sean informed Joey that Scott was going to be fired that week for contract mistakes that cost Top Rank around one million dollars. Joey sent Octavia to find him a new residence for the two of them and flew to San Diego to meet with Scott.

  At the airport Joey says he ran into Ken Hurdle from the California DOC, who he explained his good fortune to. Scott was out front with a limo for Joey. They hugged and were off to Scott’s home where they read the press about Joey’s upcoming fight. Scott had been fired that morning and had spent the day making a banner that declared “Training Center for Joey Torrey. Unfinished Business.” with matching 8x10” photos. Scott put up Joey in a San Diego hotel with a balcony overlooking the ocean.

  Joey says that Scott knocked on the door, slumped in a seat, yelling on the phone to Todd Debouf from Top Rank, “Well fuck you too, punk!,” and poured a vial of coke onto the table. The more Joey interacted with Scott, the more he felt that Scott may have been using more cocaine than anyone else at Top Rank.

  Joey says that Scott claimed he was connected to the family through David Gambino in San Diego and one of the boss’ sons was living in La Jolla, bank-rolling his new promotional firm. Joey’s return to the ring would be the company’s first promotion for The Entertainment King. Joey felt Scott was increasingly becoming a loose cannon.

  Joey called Luigi, asking about The Entertainment King. Luigi started to laugh, saying that he was asked about the same man a few weeks earlier and the kid was not a “made” guy, friend, or associate, but his family had money.

  Joey asked Luigi for advice, who told him to get back to Vegas and show some respect to Trampler for what he’d done for Joey. Joey says when Scott called from downstairs with The Entertainment King, Joey cleaned his steak knife and placed it in his waist band.

  Joey went downstairs and saw two men in the dark bar plus Scott, and this short, dark kid sitting at a table. The door guys wore pressed suits with gold chains from the disco era. Joey smiled, approached Scott, and looked into the eyes of the 25 year old kid. After ten minutes of Scott talking up the praises of the kid Ralph, Joey said “I need some good faith money in order to turn my back on Top Rank. Fifty grand would be some real good faith.”

  Ralph said that money is no problem and he owns two strip joints in San Diego and his family was going to make this happen. Joey claims he said, “Entertainment King, What family? You’re not even Italian. You’re Armenian on a school Visa and your parents are throwing money at you. This guy at the bar and these guys at the door better be packing because I will slide this steak knife in your eye socket, you fraud.” As an Armenian, Ralph was not eligible to be part of the “family.” Ralph walked out and Joey told Scott he was returning to Vegas in the morning.

  Joey admits that he finds joy in manipulating the minds of people who pretend to be gangsters. He feels that his street activities and time in prison give him a right to “feel people out” in this way, but it would seem to also indicate a joy of being in control, of calling the shots. As he says “If you’re not [gangster], I will fuck with your mind all night till you fight or pull me aside and admit you are a coward that loved watching Scarface.”

  Joey says he felt “funny” about embarrassing Scott for being tricked by this kid, so they went back to Joey’s room, did more lines of coke, and ordered room service. It was almost like a moment of empathy.

  Before Joey headed back to Vegas he ordered a bottle of rum to the pool. He checked his phone and says he had thirty new messages. As he was listening to them, Sean called, saying Trampler was pissed, Arum wants Joey to call him, and Sean’s loyalty is to Top Rank. Joey said, “Relax fool. I’ll be back tonight.” When Trampler called a minute later, Joey says he interrupted him, “I’ll see you at the office in the morning. I needed to get away and take care of some business.” Joey headed down to the pool with his $500 bottle of rum.

  In Joey’s version of events, as the pool gates opened, two men wearing Hawaiian shirts, shorts, and black socks with dress shoes walked in. Joey thought they were Feds based on their hairstyles and keptness. They sat next to Joey and read the paper. As Joey got up, he says one of the men asked if he was Joey Torrey. Joey replied in the affirmative and they identified themselves as FBI, Organized Crime Division.

  “We know you’re fighting for Top Rank and we know your fight is fixed. We’ve been bugging their office for years but could never get anyone in close. We also know that you are out of prison on appeal bond and have a pretty wife. Where’s that pretty wife of yours?” The other Fed chimed in, “I have been working in Oklahoma, trying to get Sean since he had the Knucklehead Boxing Club with Pete Sousa.” Joey says he was all ears, “tripping big time” as they went on.

  Joey ordered another whiskey and claims they said, “Prove your fight is fixed and you will get what you want. The appeal will never happen. We spoke to the D.A. and she is going to appear to fight it, but let you plead to time served. Otherwise, you’re going back to prison for life. The U.S. government is willing to protect you, whether you testify or not.”

  Joey says he was speechless as they handed him a business card, saying, “I’m sure glad you didn’t put that knife in that kid’s eye. You have 24 hours and Washington needs to know.”

  Joey kept the FBI’s card in his shoe, where he wouldn’t need to explain it to anyone. He went back to his room looking through his clothes for bugs. Then he wondered what the hell to do. Joey felt that he had no one he could talk to about this offer—not his brother, not Trampler, not even his attorney, who was a specialist at going after the FBI. The hotel phone rang. It was a reporter from the San Diego paper, asking if the fight was in San Diego or Vegas.

  It would appear that Joey was looking for protection— both from Pamela Frohreich, the LA district attorney and also from Top Rank, where he recently sold his body.

  Joey took a shower and made his phone call for a “deal with the devil.” He says he told the agents he was interested and asked what they wanted. They said to call when he got to Vegas.

  In the FBI’s telling of the same story, Joey, a con man in deep, trying to work a new angle, was untrusting of Top Rank
and approached the FBI in their offices, saying, “Just give me a wire, I’ll make a case for you.”

  And in their account, Joey’s intriguing and ruthless charm worked again. They told him, “You prove your fight is fixed, and you’ll get what you want.”

  Joey arrived back in Vegas and got a call from Octavia while he was waiting in the parking lot for his Benz. She asked when he’d be home and told him she was headed to New York. Joey thought she might be a Fed and his paranoia ran rampant. When Joey got home she asked “What’s wrong? You look old and stressed.”

  The phone rang and it was a man with a New York accent, saying that he was Bobby Bennett, and his two friends at the pool in San Diego told him to call Joey. Agent Bennett said, “1 p.m. tomorrow, Gold Coast Hotel, room 319.”

  The phone rang again and it was Angie. “Hi, honey, where ya been?” Joey had missed their dinner date that Friday. He told her about Scott and claims she said, “That white boy is crazy.” Joey wondered if she knew about the FBI. On Joey’s voice mail were messages from CNN, David Mattingly, Fox News, CBS, and Oprah doing a story about Eric Davis and Paul Molitor.

  There was much to do but Joey could only think about going back to prison and “hustling to stay alive.” He fell asleep and awoke to a banging on the door. Feeling naked without a gun, he didn’t answer and left out the same door an hour later to meet with the FBI.

  Joey arrived at the Gold Coast room and a man answered the door who was about 5’4” and Irish with a New York accent. He introduced himself as Bobby Bennett. He says “The other guy looked like a Mormon with black sunglasses and a square haircut. He was looking out the peep hole and then out the window facing the street. We sat down and they insisted on a tape recorder.” Joey says he told them, “Not until I hear the deal and decide that I agree.”

  Joey claims that Agent Bennett said his supervisor and the Attorney General had spoken to the LA District Attorney and informed her not to challenge Joey’s release in return for his cooperation. If Joey signed up to “Clean up Boxing,” his state vacated sentence would supposedly not be appealed, and after this operation, Joey would be given a new identity and relocated.

  Agent Bennett added, “I have some great news for you, Joey, I spoke to the Attorney General in Washington who met with Senator John McCain, who is monitoring this operation. That’s if you are on board Joey?”

  Agent Bennett was accompanied by his supervisor Schrump—who informed him that Washington has dubbed this Operation Matchbook and Joey’s code name would be “Cross.”

  Bennett informed Joey that he would receive $6,000 plus living expenses for a total of $10,000 each month. They gave Joey some recording devices and a list of boxers they were trying to implicate, including De La Hoya and Foreman. Since Joey had the connections to the Gambino family through his brother, the FBI felt that his entrance into the Top Rank offices would be the key to a major case against them, fixed fights, and Bob Arum.

  Joey says he read the contract over and over, as Agent Bennett supposedly informed him, “You will run the show, travel the world, and remember that Senator McCain has spent years trying to get his Boxing Bill Passed, and is aware of you, and will back you”.

  Joey called Bruce Trampler, knowing that the FBI was listening, saying that he was out of shape and had not entered a ring since prison fights back in 1988. Trampler chuckled and said, “Don’t worry about that.”

  Joey began doing ringside surveillance for the FBI with a recorder in his pocket, capturing Sean’s back office conversations.

  The FBI found Joey useful but never reliable. He would miss meetings regularly. He was too busy chasing prostitutes, doing coke, and drinking too much Courvoisier. So the FBI decided to get Joey a partner.

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  Bennett introduced Joey to Agent Harry Schlumpf, a boxing fan from Brooklyn, who said they’ve been trying to prove Top Rank had been “fixing” fights for years. Joey claims they said “We know your full story. If you can prove that your fight is fixed, you will get what you want. After indictments are served, you will have a new beginning with a new identity.”

  It was the Buddy Holly-resembling Sean Gibbons that prompted the initial interest of the FBI and John McCain. Between his own fighting career and his matchmaking, Gibbons had drawn a lot of questions about the legality of his methods. Pat O’Grady, the man who trained Gibbons as a matchmaker, was then being remembered for bringing Mexican fighters to the U.S. and then calling immigration after the fights so he wouldn’t have to pay them.

  In one example, Michael Smith, an Oklahoma fighter with an 0-11 record who was serving a 10-year sentence on a drug-related conviction when the report was released, talked to investigator Skip Nicholson about more than one Gibbons-requested fall in the ring. Mitchell Rose alleged that in 1995 he was offered money by Top Rank to throw a fight against Eric “Butterbean” Esch.

  Nicholson’s report wound up in the hands of Sen. John McCain, who said its details should be “of significant concern to federal law enforcement authorities” in a two-page letter to then-Attorney General Janet Reno.

  The agents were simply the latest effort in trying to make something stick. Schlumpf told Joey, “It will not be easy, you will be wired. We will find you a partner.” Joey said his head was swimming as Bobby jumped in, “You’ll get paid. Just get Top Rank.”

  Then Joey claims Agent Schlumpf said, “You owe these people nothing, Mr. Torrey, but we can get you this minute with the Rico Act, for being a known Mafia associate. So get back to us as soon as you make up your mind.”

  Joey left to drive around The Strip. Pulling into the mall, a fire engine red, SL 320 Benz cut in front of him, into valet parking. He watched a couple get out of the car—a woman in a miniature dress and a small, light-skinned man in a mink coat. The valet told Joey the man’s name was Cash and he was a local pimp.

  Despite not needing anything, Joey visited Foot Locker when Cash walked up and put his back to Joey. “Where you from, fool?” Cash turned and smiled, responding with, “Inglewood family blood.” Joey asked, “Blood! With that fire engine slob mobile?” Joey claims Cash flared and smiled, put out his hand and said, I saw you on the cover of this morning’s paper!

  The two of them began to party together in Vegas. As Cash said, “It’s all about the green, all about the money.” Cash’s wife ran his operation so he could party. Along with Cash’s sidekick David Rivera, Joey became part of an outfit resembling the Three Amigos for that year.

  Joey was given ringside tickets for a fight at the MGM Grand the following weekend by the people at Top Rank he was currently betraying. Beforehand him and Cash did the Vegas ritual: They hit the mall, nail shop, got facials, dry cleaning, car wash, and waited by the pool until Octavia and Cash’s wife arrived.

  Sitting in the second row next to Morgan Freeman and Mario Lopez, Mike Tyson walked up to Joey. Morgan Freeman asked who had the rights to Joey’s story and Mario Lopez offered to play Joey, but Joey kept wondering what would happen when they found out he was working for the Feds, After the fight, they all went to the after party at Mandalay Bay and the China Club.

  That next day Bennett walked up to Joey sitting poolside at the Meridian to tell him they had found someone to be his partner. The 6’1”, 310 pound NYC officer Frank Manzione went by “Big Frankie.”

  The three of them came up with a good back story for Frank Manzione. The undercover veteran had already infiltrated the Genovese crime family, and was so convincing that the mobsters he pinched still had no idea he was the law. Joey saw his thick black hair and shiny silk shirt, and hears an accent out of the hardscrabble neighborhood of Red Hook, Brooklyn. “You look connected,” he says. “We should use that.”

  Joey will introduce Big Frankie as his mob-connected cousin who runs a trucking company back east and wants to get into the fight game. Frank will have plenty of cash and a heavily muscled driver, who is also an agent. The FBI will rent a warehouse protected by razor wire and filled with swag— cases of vodka, racks of c
lothes, motorcycles, furs—so local thieves will think he’s a fence. Big Frankie calls the front YGJ Inc.: “You’re Going to Jail.”

  Joey spent that evening with Sean and Bruce at the office, talking about his schedule. It was the beginning of March and Joey hadn’t laced up a glove or run a mile in years, except to the liquor store.

  When Joey walked the loser into the blue corner in Corpus Christi, the Bureau had Frankie get his feet wet. They gave Joey a fresh pager that was also a recorder. After inserting a paper clip in a hole, a red light would flash, which meant it was on. He would then say the date and time and then it was good for twelve hours.

  Frankie quickly attached himself to and bore into Sean Gibbons, who took a liking to the cop’s money and flash. Joey loved that part perhaps the most, but says in private he cried about selling out. With Frankie at his side, there’s no restaurant Joey can’t crash, no touch too lavish to keep up appearances. When Frankie pulled up to Top Rank in a canary-yellow Porsche, “Nice,” was all Joey had to say. With a “cousin” in the mob, Joey found a whole new range of opportunities. He claims, “The FBI wanted me to be a bad guy, so that’s the role I played … I was buying drugs, ditching cars for insurance money, threatening people.”

  Joey says that inside himself he felt lost and did a lot of media appearances to fill the time. The family had Joey Cortese, the actor, call him. Cortese and his wife, Kim Delaney, had been trying to sell Joey’s story in Hollywood.

  At the MGM fight, Joey felt like Big Frankie watched everyone like a Fed. After the fights in Corpus, boxer Jorge Paez was ready to open his mouth about bribes, fixed fights, and more, but the FBI told Joey to hold off.