Boxer, promoter sentenced in fight fixing case

A boxing promoter and professional boxer have been sentenced to prison in a Las Vegas fight fixing case.

Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for Nevada, said promoter Robert Mitchell, 42, of Irmo, S.C., will serve 37 months and pay a $6,000 fine. Boxer Thomas Williams, 35, of Landover, Md., will serve 15 months and 100 hours of community service.

U.S. District Judge James C. Mahan also barred the two from engaging in boxing-related employment for three years unless specifically approved by the United Sates Probation Office.

Bogden said this is the first time someone has been successfully prosecuted for fixing a boxing match in Nevada.

"I hope the message is clear to everyone who works in the professional boxing industry, that if you are caught, charged and convicted of sports bribery and fixed fights, you will very likely go to prison for an extended period of time," he said.

They were convicted of one count of conspiracy and sports bribery for participating in a series of "fixed" fights from 1995 through August 2000 to enhance the boxing career of professional heavyweight fighter Richie "the Bull" Melito Jr. A third individual, boxing promoter Robert Mittleman, pleaded guilty to two counts of Sports Bribery and one count of Bribery of a Public Official, and was sentenced on December 6, 2004, to three years probation and six months of home detention. His sentence was reduced in exchange for his cooperation and testimony at trial against Mitchell and Williams. Mittleman's guilty plea included an admission that he attempted to bribe a federal prosecutor and United States District Judge to get the case against Williams dismissed.

The defendants and others arranged for at least 11 of Melito's opponents from 1995 through 2000 to accept bribes of money or other consideration in exchange for losing the fights.

• Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.