Rose Bet Baseball, Newspaper Reports

CLEVELAND —  A man listed in court documents by a code name and identified by sources as Cincinnati Reds Manager Pete Rose wagered $8,000 to $16,000 daily on games during the 1987 season, the Plain Dealer of Cleveland reported in its Wednesday editions.

Three sources close to the case said the bets were made on baseball games, the paper said.

The newspaper quoted government informants as claiming the document said the bets were placed through Ron Peters, a Franklin, Ohio, cafe owner who has said he was Rose’s principal bookmaker. Although Rose is not referred to by name in the IRS document, the newspaper said it had been told by federal sources that the code name “G-1” means Rose.

The Plain Dealer also reported the document as stating that Paul Janszen, a friend of Rose, repeatedly urged Peters to pay a $50,000 gambling debt the bookie owed the Cincinnati manager and Janszen.

U.S. District Court records show Janszen became an FBI informant and began wearing a wireless microphone in April 1988, the newspaper reported, and at least four conversations about the debt were taped by federal agents.

Rose’s attorney, Reuven Katz, said Wednesday morning he would not comment on the report. Peters and Janszen have unlisted telephone numbers. Peters did not immediately return a telephone message left at his restaurant in Franklin.

The Internal Revenue Service said the betting done by “G-1” occurred early in the 1987 season, according to the paper. Rose has denied betting on baseball and using bookies.

The IRS document does mention bets made on the Reds, but they were made by another gambler, not Rose, at $200 per game, the paper said.

According to the Plain Dealer, the document says the following happened in May 1987:

“During the first or second week of May 1987, G-1 (Rose) and S-1 (Janszen) together won approximately $25,000 from Peters. S-1 met Peters in Franklin, and in S-1’s car, Peters gave him currency in stacks of $5,000 each.

“The following week, S-1 took several thousand dollars to Peters, which was for losses of G-1.

“Beginning in June 1987, G-1 began winning his bets with Peters. However, in June 1987, when S-1 (Janszen) went to Franklin to collect, Peters told S-1 that his wife ‘had gone crazy on him, and that she took $150,000 of his money.’ Peters told S-1 he could not pay at that time, but would pay S-1 soon.” The IRS affidavit seeking a search warrant for Peters’ home and business was sealed last Aug. 17 by a federal magistrate in Dayton, Ohio. It contained sensitive information about a secret federal investigation into illegal sports betting, the newspaper said.

The baseball commissioner’s office began an investigation of Rose’s alleged betting habits last month. If he is found to have bet on baseball games, he is subject to a one-year suspension. If it is discovered he bet on games involving the Reds, he could be banned for life.

Richard Levin, a spokesman for the commissioner’s office, declined comment when asked about the IRS affidavit.

“We’re not commenting on the investigation at all,” Levin said.

On Monday, Peters, 31, admitted in federal court that he was a bookmaker and cocaine distributor. In return, he will receive an 18-month sentence on charges that could have put him in jail for 23 years and cost Peters $1.25 million in fines.

Also identified in the IRS document, the paper said, were two others who have associated with Rose--Thomas Gioiosa, a self-described professional gambler and former roommate of Rose’s, and Janszen.

Janszen is a federal informant serving a six-month sentence for tax evasion involving the sale of steroids, the paper said.