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Tarnished gold Atlanta strip club trial is a tragicomic show
It isn't easy to find anything bright or hopeful in the toxic drama billed U.S. vs. Kaplan, 99 CR609; now in daily performances on the 17th floor of the U.S. Courthouse in Atlanta. The cast of characters includes FBI agents who have been sneaking around strip clubs looking for clues; real and wanna-be hoodlums advancing their careers with scores large and small; and a few priapic professional athletes also looking to score. The script is a 129-page, 21-count indictment based on the astonishing proposition that the owner of a strip club would do anything he could to rip off his customers. The narrative begins in New York in 1988 and continues through 1999 with various forms of alleged racketeering in bloom. Most of the action takes place in the Gold Club, an upscale joint in the Buckhead section of Atlanta and a regular stop for many professional athletes. The FBI views this whole thing as a major gambit in its war on organized crime. The owner of the Gold Club, Steve Kaplan, is supposedly protected by the Gambino crime family, and one of his partners, Michael (Mikey Scars) DiLeonardo, is reputed to be a Mafia captain. In his opening statement, Kaplan's lawyer, Steve Sadow , contended that the government is after his client only because he is a "stereotypical New York Jew." You can debate the stereotype all day, but there's no doubt that Kaplan is pasty, heavy and hyper. The United Jewish Appeal and the Anti-Defamation League should be preparing slander cases against Kaplan and his defense team. If Kaplan is any kind of stereotype, he's the stereotypical jock-sniffer, one of those guys who wants to be in the presence of celebrity athletes. It somehow makes him feel good all over. Through his stewardship of several rub clubs, Kaplan, according to federal prosecutors, noticed that the presence of a star athlete increased his business and made his customers feel more respectable. (I guess if you see Patrick Ewing in a dark corner behind a large plant, you must be in a respectable place.) Witnesses have testified that Kaplan found a profitable synergy by making his club a desired destination for the millionaire athlete looking to kill some time while in Atlanta and made it more interesting for the jocks by frequently providing women free of charge. According to federal prosecutors, Kaplan not only provided free women in his club, he took them on the road, hosting two parties in Las Vegas and one at Super Bowl XXXIII in Miami. The courtroom show is both tragic and comic, but mainly pathetic. The crimes alleged by the FBI and federal prosecutors have no real victims. Yes, there are some guys who found their credit cards maxed out the morning after a visit to the Gold Club. But how worried should we be about these poor souls? The one bright and hopeful stroke in the entire discouraging tableau is a lawsuit recently filed by NBA forward Antonio Davis in Brooklyn (N.Y.) federal court. One of Kaplan's former managers, Thomas (Ziggy) Sicignano has stated that Davis was a Gold Club regular. It is one of many stories Sicignano has told, having cut a deal with prosecutors. (Sicignano pled guilty to a felony in return for his testimony.) But this time, Sicignano may have the wrong guy. In his defamation suit against Sicignano, Davis says he was in the Gold Club only once, in 1993, which happens to be before Kaplan bought the establishment. According to Davis' attorney, Gary Hall, the player visited the club when he was a rookie with the Pacers. That was it. He did nothing while he was there. There was no sex. There was nothing. Unlike other athletes caught in the FBI's Gold Club web, Davis is fighting back. Now a free agent, Davis wants Sicignano to make up for any losses he suffers in contract money or endorsements as a result of the bogus story. Davis puts that figure at about $50 million. Sicignano may be in for some trouble when he returns to Brooklyn to defend himself against Davis's claims. Sports Illustrated legal analyst Lester Munson holds court on sports law and
business matters every week on CNNSI.com. The opinions expressed here are solely
those of the writer.
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