Boston College basketball point shaving scandal of 1978-79

The Boston College basketball point shaving scandal of 1978-79 involved a scheme in which underworld figures recruited and bribed some Boston College basketball players to ensure the team would not win by the required margin (not cover the point spread) allowing the gamblers in the know to place wagers against that team and win.

The scheme

The Boston College point shaving scheme was invented by Rocco Perla and his brother Anthony (Tony) in Pittsburgh during the summer of 1978. The Perla brothers were small-time gamblers who saw the 1978-79 Boston College basketball season as a perfect opportunity to earn a lot of money. They wanted to recruit Rick Kuhn to join the scheme. Kuhn, a high school friend of Rocco Perla, was entering his senior year at Boston College and was expected to be a key member of the 1978-79 Eagles basketball team.

The Perla brothers proposed a simple scheme. They along with Kuhn would select certain basketball games where the projected point spread separating Boston College from its opponent was expected to be significant. Kuhn would be responsible for ensuring, by his play on the court, that Boston College fell short of the point spread. Thus, for example, if participating bookmakers determined Boston College to be an eight point favorite in a particular game, Kuhn would be paid a bonus, usually $2,500, if Boston College won by less than eight points. In addition, they were given the opportunity to bet the money they were paid and double their winnings. Kuhn agreed to participate, and brought in his teammate Jim Sweeney and Joe Streater

The setup

Rocco and Tony Perla then mobilized a betting syndicate to maximize their potential gain from this operation. They contacted a local friend, Paul Mazzei, who was known to have influence within major New York gambling circles. Mazzei in turn contacted Henry Hill, a Lucchese crime family associate from New York who had befriended Mazzei while both men were serving sentences in a federal prison. Mazzei and the Perlas were particularly hopeful that Hill would enlist the support of his boss, James "Jimmy the Gent" Burke, to finance the payments to the players, to set up a network of bookmakers who were in on the scheme and could handle large bets and lay them off and spread the bets among a number of unsuspecting bookmakers around the country so as not to arouse suspicion, and to ensure protection for the enterprise in the event that the unsuspecting bookmakers, all who had thugs at their disposal to collect unpaid debts, discovered they were being swindled. Hill and Burke were brought into the scheme, after receiving approval from Luchchese crime family capo Paul Vario.

Burke through Hill, would front the money to pay the players, forwarding the money to Pittsburg to Paul Mazzei as the go-between, who would forward it to the Perla brothers who would pass it to the players directly. The same channels would be used for the passing of the point spread from Burke and Hill to the players.

Burke had Hill fly to Boston on November 16, 1978, to meet with Mazzei, Tony Perla, Kuhn, and any other member of the Boston College team interested in participating in their scheme. Said Hill "I asked the players which of the upcoming games they felt we could shave. Sweeney took out one of those little schedule cards, circled that games he thought we could fool around with, and gave the card to me. They kept saying that they liked the idea of just shaving points and not blowing the games". After discussing their strategy with Kuhn and Sweeney, it was agreed that the upcoming Providence game would be an appropriate test for their scheme. Hill paid Kuhn,Sweeney and Streater $2,000 each in good-faith money and furnished them with one ounce of cocaine to seal the conspiracy.

The fix

The Providence game was played on December 6, 1978 and Boston College was favored to win by six to seven points. Kuhn was thus expected to keep the score below the six to seven point margin. The test run for the scheme proved unsuccessful, however, when Boston College established an early lead and ultimately won the game by nineteen points.

Enraged by their gambling loss, the conspirators the Perla Brothers, Mazzei, Burke, and Hill decided to recruit additional Boston College players to enhance their control over the outcome of the games. They approached Ernie Cobb, the leading scorer on the team, and Joseph Beaulieu, who shared the center position with Kuhn. Cobb agreed to cooperate, while Beaulieu rejected this offer. Burke instructed Hill to warn the players to keep to their end of the deal because "you can't play basketball with broken hands".

The December 16 Harvard game was chosen as the second test for the scheme. Boston College was favored by 12 to 13 points, but won the game by only a three-point margin, 86 to 83. The bettors were very happy with this result and Kuhn, Sweeney,Streater and Cobb were paid $2,500 each for their efforts.

The scheme continued to work successfully in the December 23 UCLA game, where the Bruins, a 15- to 18-point favorite, won the game by 22 points, 103-81.

Suspecting that some bookmakers might be getting wise to the scheme, the conspirators temporarily revised their strategy after the UCLA. game. To allay any suspicions of foul play, they decided to bet on Boston College to win by more than the point spread ("cover the spread") in a game that they were confident Boston College would win handily. The conspirators chose the January 17 Connecticut (UConn) game to implement this plan. Their strategy was effective; BC, a 5-point favorite, covered the spread with a 90-80 win over UConn.

In early February, Boston College was scheduled to play two New York teams, Fordham and St. John's. The conspirators decided that these games presented especially good opportunities because New York bookmakers generally accepted large bets for New York teams. They reintroduced the original strategy and it proved successful for the February 3 Fordham game when BC, a 10-point favorite, won by seven points, 71-64.

The February 6 St. John's game was a "push:" the bettors neither won nor lost when St. John's prevailed 85-76 by the exact betting margin established by participating bookmakers, 9-12.

Confident from their recent success, the conspirators viewed the February 10 Holy Cross game as an opportunity to reap the full benefits of their scheme. They were aware that bookmakers generally accepted large bets on this game because Boston College and Holy Cross were traditional rivals and also because the game was being nationally televised. Holy Cross was favored to win and, consistent with the scheme, the conspirators bet on Holy Cross to win by a margin greater than the point spread. 2-7. Holy Cross ultimately won by only two points 98-96 however; Ernie Cobb scored eight points in the final minutes to bring BC close, and everyone involved lost a substantial amount of money. Hill stated that at the time, he and Burke were watching the game on television at Burke's home in Howard Beach, Queens and when it was over, Burke having lost $50,000 of his own money on the game put his foot through his big expensive television set in a rage. Said Hill "He wanted me to fly up to Boston. Ultimately, nothing happened. Jimmy said he was finished. He didn't want to be bothered with these kids anymore." The scheme thus ended on an unsuccessful note.

The Boston College basketball team ended its 1978-79 season with a 22-9 record. The players involved in the point shaving scheme had made $2,500 each, and sometimes more, per game. Hill cleared over $100,000 and bettors higher up the line were said to have made up to $250,000. They had all gotten away with it or so it seemed.

The fall

The Boston College basketball point shaving conspiracy was uncovered in 1980 when Hill was arrested and indicted by New York state authorities on drug trafficking charges and subsequently was implicated in the Lufthansa heist. Hill turned informant in exchange for avoiding prison time and to escape possible execution by Burke and the Lucchese family. While being questioned on these crimes, Hill revealed that he had recently participated in a point shaving scheme involving the Boston College basketball team and various underworld figures. Hill offered to relate the full story of the swindle if federal officials would guarantee him full immunity and would agree to intercede on his behalf to convince state officials to drop the drug charges pending in state court.

The grand jury indicted Burke, Mazzei, Kuhn, Cobb, Rocco Perla and Tony Perla on the basis of testimony given by Hill. Hill was indicted as a co-conspirator, but was not named as a defendant. At the trial in 1981, the government's case consisted primarily of the testimony of Hill and three other witnesses, James Sweeney and Joseph Streater, both Boston College players, and Barbara Reed, a 23-year-old nurse who lived with Kuhn during the 1978-79 Boston College season. The government also introduced two confessions, one made by Kuhn and the other by Tony Perla. Finally, the government presented telephone records showing evidence of extensive communications between the conspirators during the 1978-79 season, and records provided by Western Union and various hotels which further corroborated government testimony.

After a four week trial, each conspirator was convicted on charges of RICO conspiracy, conspiracy to commit sports bribery, and interstate travel with the intent to commit bribery. Burke was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment. Kuhn was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, later reduced to 28 months. Mazzei and Tony Perla were sentenced to ten years imprisonment. Rocco Perla was sentenced to four years imprisonment. Cobb was acquitted. Sweeney and Streater were not charged.

The games

*December 6 1978 against Providence. BC was favored by 6-7 and won by 19 points, 83-64 All bets were lost as BC covered the point spread.
*December 16, 1978 against Harvard. BC was favored by 12-13 and won by 3 points 86-83, resulting in a win for the bettors.
*December 23, 1978 against UCLA. BC was a 15-18 point underdog, and lost by 22 points 103-81 resulting in a win for the bettors.
*January 10 1979 against Rhode Island. BC was a 13-15 point underdog; and lost by 13 points 91-78 and the betters lost.
*January 17, 1979 against UConn. BC, favored by 5 beat UConn by 10 points 90-80 a margin greater than the point spread, resulting in a win for the bettors.
*January 20, 1979 against Holy Cross was a "push", the betters neither wom nor lost when BC, initially favored by 5, dropped to 2 due to heavy beting on Holy Cross. BC wins by the exact betting margin 2 points, 89-87
*February 3, 1979 against Fordham. BC was favored by 10, won by 7 points 71-64 resulting in a win for the bettors.
*February 6, 1979 against St. John's was a "push". The bettors neither won nor lost when St. John's, the favorite, prevailed by the exact betting margin 9-12 and won by 9 points, 85-76.
*February 10, 1979 against Holy Cross. Holy Cross was initially favored by 2. After heavy betting against BC, Holy Cross was favored to win by 7 at the start of the game. They won by 2 points 98-96, and the bettors lost.

Further reading

"Sports Illustrated" (SI) "How I Put The Fix In" (February 16, 1981) article written by Henry Hill, in collaboration with Douglas Looney. This article purported to be Hill's first-hand account of the point shaving scheme. Hill claimed he paid Kuhn and Sweeney to shave points in nine games between Dec. 16, 1978 and March 1, 1979. Hill won six games, but didn't begin to win wagers until Boston College's star Ernie Cobb joined the scheme for the last five games. Hill claimed he made between $75,000 to $100,000 in eleven weeks. He estimated his partners made $250,000. Hill said the players involved made about $10,000 each.

"Fixed: How Goodfellas Bought Boston College Basketball" by David Porter, Taylor Trade Publishing (February 25, 2000) ISBN-13: 978-0878331925 Utilizing extensive background research as well as interviews with the principal characters, Fixed provides the first in-depth reconstruction of the point-shaving scandal involving the 1978-1979 Boston College basketball team, from the genesis of the plot in the summer of 1978, through the uncovering of the scheme during an unrelated investigation in 1980, to the trial that captivated the sports world in the fall of 1981 and its aftermath.

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