DES MOINES, Iowa — Prosecutors say former former sports talk radio host Marty Tirrell should spend five years in prison and repay $1.4 million stolen from victims in sports ticketing scams, according to new court documents.
"For years, Marty Tirrell has sweet talked and scammed people out of money," Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa Richard Westphal wrote in a sentencing memorandum Thursday. "He hooked victims with his gift of gab and then left them high and dry, without sports tickets and money out of their pockets."
"He leveraged his notoriety and alleged connections to rope sports enthusiasts into giving him money for tickets that did not exist, or to become involved in a ticket selling “business” that benefitted no one but Tirrell. A prison sentence is warranted in this case."
The U.S. Attorney's Office is asking for a five-year prison sentence and total restitution of $1,464,563.79: $212,226.23 to American Express, $33,144.53 to Wells Fargo, $31,775 to Bank of the West and the rest to individual victims:
- R.W. — $240,825
- J.W. — $886,087
- W.N. — $7,500
- T.J. — $10,000
- D.D. — $43,006.03
All victims were identified by initials only as submitted in court documents
"When interviewed by FBI Special Agent Kevin Kohler, Tirrell said he “always tells the truth,” then proceeded to lie about each fraudulent transaction involved in this scheme," the recommendation adds.
Tirrell, known as “The Mouth of the Midwest”, hosted sports talk radio shows on 1460 KXNO and 1700 The Champ. He was indicted in January 2019 on six charges with four more added on in May 2019.
Tirrell told investors they could make money by financing Tirrell’s brokering of sporting event tickets, claiming he could make profits by buying and reselling the tickets.
However, Tirrell allegedly used money paid to him by investors for personal use despite claiming he “needed more time” to pay back investors, including mailing insufficient funds checks and transmitting false money wire information “to place the Investors temporarily at ease”.
He pleaded guilty in December 2019 to a single count of mail fraud.
“From at least on or about September 2016, and continuing through at least on or about December 2017 … [Tirrell] knowingly devised a scheme to defraud Investors and obtain money by means of materially false and fraudulent representations,” a plea agreement reads.
According to prosecutors, Tirrell presented investors the opportunity to make money by financing his purchase of sporting event tickets, but kept funds for “unauthorized purposes”, personal use and “repaying other Investors”, according to the plea agreement.
Ahead of his sentencing on Wednesday, Jan. 20, the U.S. Attorney's Office has reinforced their belief Tirrell to be imprisoned, despite a lack of criminal record.
"Tirrell has been scamming companies and individuals for years," Westphal writes. "This conduct should be taken into account when sentencing the Defendant, who has zero criminal history points."
"Some of Tirrell’s victims suffered financial harm, and others were fortunate that the loss of money did not cause them any serious consequences," the memorandum concludes.
"That being said, all the victims can unanimously agree that the time and energy spent dealing with Marty Tirrell and trying to get their money back was head spinning. Months and months of promises and lies from Tirrell caused great stress and frustration for the victims of his crimes."
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