The FBI has launched 130 pages of paperwork about Pete Rose, Main League Baseball’s all-time hits chief, who was banned from the game for many years due to betting on video games.
The paperwork, that are closely redacted, embody allegations from the Nineteen Eighties that Rose had ties to folks concerned in unlawful playing and drug trafficking in Ohio.
Pete Rose and bookie accused of unlawful dealings
Based on a July 15, 1987 teletype from the FBI’s Cincinnati area workplace, Franklin law enforcement officials alleged that Ronald Peters, proprietor of Jonathan’s Bar in Franklin, Ohio, “is a significant primarily bookmaker, coping with sport wagering, and a narcotics vendor within the Higher Cincinnati space.” The officers additional reported that that they had witnessed “distinguished sports activities personalities, Pete Rose, on many events getting into Peters’s institution via its non-public entrance”.
One other supply mentioned that Rose wasn’t only a buyer however at one level additionally a silent monetary backer. A cooperating defendant instructed investigators that “amongst his clients is Cincinnati Reds baseball workforce supervisor, Pete Rose,” and that Rose at one level owed Peters “$90,000 in sports activities wagering losses”.
Brokers recorded stories of briefcases “handcuffed to their wrists” being carried into Jonathan’s Bar, with allegations that Peters’ associates escorted “briefcases of cash to and from Jonathan’s Bar”.
One FBI abstract said: “Additionally it is alleged that Pete Rose was a silent accomplice in a bar that Peters operated in Cincinnati earlier than he moved to Franklin”.
Not each supply related Rose on to drug exercise. One informant mentioned he thought Peters was a drug vendor however added, “he’s conscious that Peters runs a significant sports activities wagering operation within the Cincinnati-Franklin space” and {that a} enterprise partnership involving Rose collapsed as a result of “Rose’s playing money owed created a monetary drawback”.
The paperwork additionally present that legislation enforcement was apprehensive native companies didn’t wish to examine. One FBI report famous “the Franklin Police Division’s refusal to behave on this data” and cited “alleged corruption within the Franklin judicial system” as a purpose for federal involvement.
The information don’t go so far as proving prison costs in opposition to Rose, who accepted a lifetime ban from Main League Baseball in 1989 for betting on video games. He denied for years that he ever guess on baseball, however in 2004 he admitted he had positioned wagers whereas managing the Cincinnati Reds.
Main League Baseball points coverage determination on everlasting ineligibility standing after demise: https://t.co/T4EA7Qyi8e pic.twitter.com/7Byd9syrV5
— MLB (@MLB) Might 13, 2025
Earlier this yr, MLB ended the long-running controversy by lifting Rose’s ban from the Corridor of Fame poll.
Featured picture: Cincinnati Reds / Canva
The submit FBI information reveal alleged playing and narcotics ties involving MLB Pete Rose appeared first on ReadWrite.
