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Bolles football coach unknowingly used illegal bookie
Betting stopped in '99 after probe by police
By Jim Schoettler
Times-Union staff writer
On the gridiron, Bolles football coach Corky Rogers preaches playing by the rules. Hidden inside Rogers for the past 2 1/2 years has been worry knowing he broke them. Again.
A legendary 30-year coach with 276 wins at Lee High School and The Bolles School, Rogers said this week he and at least three of his assistants at Bolles were among a group involved in placing bets on pro and college football games with an illegal bookmaking ring in Jacksonville. Rogers said he didn't realize they were breaking any laws until Jacksonville police contacted him in May 1999. He was not charged.
Rogers, who declined to identify the coaches who bet with him, said he is embarrassed to be linked to the ring and was concerned his involvement would come back to haunt him one day. He said he hadn't told Bolles officials until he was contacted by the Times-Union Tuesday.
Rogers said he thought the gambling scheme involved an offshore, legal betting operation. He said no high school football games were involved.
"It was upsetting to me. It's eating at me inside," he said. "I still really believe in all of our hearts we did not feel we were breaking the law."
But Rogers, 58, added there were moments when he wondered whether there wasn't something odd about how the betting was set up.
"Inside do you think it's possibly wrong because it's not OK'd everywhere? Yeah, I probably had that feeling," Rogers said.
It isn't the first time Rogers has been linked to illegal gambling. While at Lee in 1981 Rogers was named by state prosecutors as an unindicted co-conspirator in a gambling operation that led to eight arrests. That ring concentrated on college and pro football betting. Rogers was neither charged nor disciplined.
As for being caught in the same situation twice nearly 20 years apart, Rogers said he is not a heavy bettor or addicted to gambling.
"I don't think there is a trend that way," Rogers said.
The most recent ring, which involved bets made through a toll-free phone number and exchanges of money at a local bar and barbershop, was busted by vice detectives two years ago. It operated from early 1997 until April 1999, court records said. The only person arrested was the bookie, Joseph Condy, who was sentenced last month to a year's probation and ordered to pay $10,000 to a police investigative fund.
The Times-Union obtained police records, including names of at least 19 bettors and details of the operation, this week after receiving a tip.
Though police said Rogers and the other witnesses were involving in making illegal bets, authorities were most interested in exposing the heart of the operation.
"In no case that I have prosecuted since I have been doing these have we prosecuted people who were simply bettors," said Assistant State Attorney Laura Starrett. "Placing bets is fairly de minimis. The way to get to the people who are taking the bets is to use those people [bettors] as witnesses."
John E. Trainer Jr., Bolles' president and head of school, offered his support for Rogers yesterday. Trainer said Rogers participated in the gambling game after it was advertised on the radio as legal and that he stopped when contacted by police. The school has no plans to discipline Rogers, who has coached there since March 1989.
"While this is a difficult time for Corky, I continue to believe in his character, skills and talent," Trainer said in a memo to school officials. "He and I spoke to his players yesterday and turned his mistake into a 'life lesson' for them. I pointed out to the team that his actions throughout this incident reflected and lived up to the Bolles Honor Code. At no point did he cheat, lie or steal or tolerate continuing to associate with something he discovered was wrong."
Officials of the Florida High School Activities Association, which regulates high school sports, said they would take no action in the case because discipline of coaches is up to the school or school board where they work.
Police got a tip in 1998 about the bookie operation and used an informant to infiltrate the ring, which primarily operated out of TJ's Tavern on University Boulevard South. Police learned that bettors either bet through another member of the ring or would be given an 800 phone number and an identification number.
Betting stopped in '99 after probe by police
By Jim Schoettler
Times-Union staff writer
On the gridiron, Bolles football coach Corky Rogers preaches playing by the rules. Hidden inside Rogers for the past 2 1/2 years has been worry knowing he broke them. Again.
A legendary 30-year coach with 276 wins at Lee High School and The Bolles School, Rogers said this week he and at least three of his assistants at Bolles were among a group involved in placing bets on pro and college football games with an illegal bookmaking ring in Jacksonville. Rogers said he didn't realize they were breaking any laws until Jacksonville police contacted him in May 1999. He was not charged.
Rogers, who declined to identify the coaches who bet with him, said he is embarrassed to be linked to the ring and was concerned his involvement would come back to haunt him one day. He said he hadn't told Bolles officials until he was contacted by the Times-Union Tuesday.
Rogers said he thought the gambling scheme involved an offshore, legal betting operation. He said no high school football games were involved.
"It was upsetting to me. It's eating at me inside," he said. "I still really believe in all of our hearts we did not feel we were breaking the law."
But Rogers, 58, added there were moments when he wondered whether there wasn't something odd about how the betting was set up.
"Inside do you think it's possibly wrong because it's not OK'd everywhere? Yeah, I probably had that feeling," Rogers said.
It isn't the first time Rogers has been linked to illegal gambling. While at Lee in 1981 Rogers was named by state prosecutors as an unindicted co-conspirator in a gambling operation that led to eight arrests. That ring concentrated on college and pro football betting. Rogers was neither charged nor disciplined.
As for being caught in the same situation twice nearly 20 years apart, Rogers said he is not a heavy bettor or addicted to gambling.
"I don't think there is a trend that way," Rogers said.
The most recent ring, which involved bets made through a toll-free phone number and exchanges of money at a local bar and barbershop, was busted by vice detectives two years ago. It operated from early 1997 until April 1999, court records said. The only person arrested was the bookie, Joseph Condy, who was sentenced last month to a year's probation and ordered to pay $10,000 to a police investigative fund.
The Times-Union obtained police records, including names of at least 19 bettors and details of the operation, this week after receiving a tip.
Though police said Rogers and the other witnesses were involving in making illegal bets, authorities were most interested in exposing the heart of the operation.
"In no case that I have prosecuted since I have been doing these have we prosecuted people who were simply bettors," said Assistant State Attorney Laura Starrett. "Placing bets is fairly de minimis. The way to get to the people who are taking the bets is to use those people [bettors] as witnesses."
John E. Trainer Jr., Bolles' president and head of school, offered his support for Rogers yesterday. Trainer said Rogers participated in the gambling game after it was advertised on the radio as legal and that he stopped when contacted by police. The school has no plans to discipline Rogers, who has coached there since March 1989.
"While this is a difficult time for Corky, I continue to believe in his character, skills and talent," Trainer said in a memo to school officials. "He and I spoke to his players yesterday and turned his mistake into a 'life lesson' for them. I pointed out to the team that his actions throughout this incident reflected and lived up to the Bolles Honor Code. At no point did he cheat, lie or steal or tolerate continuing to associate with something he discovered was wrong."
Officials of the Florida High School Activities Association, which regulates high school sports, said they would take no action in the case because discipline of coaches is up to the school or school board where they work.
Police got a tip in 1998 about the bookie operation and used an informant to infiltrate the ring, which primarily operated out of TJ's Tavern on University Boulevard South. Police learned that bettors either bet through another member of the ring or would be given an 800 phone number and an identification number.