Wambammer –
I thought that I’d go the distance on these questions about the 1970s
horse racing scandal.
First I checked on Tuite, Crist and Rogers to see if they’d written a
book about the scandal. Crist is a principal owner for the Daily
Racing Form and has written or contributed to several books, though
none are focused on this scandal. The other two journalists haven’t
written any books about racing.
You have good reason to suspect that witnesses might have been
murdered:
* the investigation was carried out over a period of more than 5 years
by the FBI’s organized crime task force in New York City.
* the investigation covered race-fixing at tracks in 4 states and was
assumed to be controlled by organized crime.
* Anthony (Big Tuna) Ciulla was shielded under the Federal Witness
Protection program. He refused to testify in New York State Racing
and Wagering Board hearings, saying that he feared for his life.
* several jockeys changed stories mid-stream and Ciulla’s testimony
helped convict 39 people in 4 states - - but he stopped cooperating
with state racing boards.
That said, the only death openly related to the case is the apparent
suicide of Michael Hole, a jockey who died in 1976. In Steven Crist’s
April 3, 1982 New York Times story, "Report Released on Race-Fixing,"
he notes that Jacinto Vasquez, a jockey, had testified that he offered
bribes to Hole and another jockey.
Crist in an opinion column, "Clogged Wheels of Justice," in June, 1984
quotes one of the FBI investigators as saying, "We shot and missed.
We caught a few small ones, but the bad guys won."
There was other violence associated with the case. In April, 1982,
one of the accused jockeys was arrested and charged with
pistol-whipping a rider who had testified against him. Eddie
Belmonte, whose license was revoked in 1981 as an outfall of the
scandal, attacked James Martin on April 1, 1982 in Queens, NY. Martin
had taped a conversation for the FBI in which Belmonte offered a bribe
to fix a race in September, 1980. The story ran in the New York Times
on April 9, 1982.
Google search strategy:
New York Times article search using Proquest Historical newspapers.
Best regards,
Omnivorous-GA |
