ABA Owner Arrested & Jailed

[The Magician]

http://news.mywebpal.com/partners/680/public/news800557.html

Gladiators/Knights co-owner jailed

04/20/07
From staff reports

The co-owner of the Rome Gladiators and Rome Knights basketball teams has been in Floyd County Jail since late Thursday night.

According to Floyd County Jail records, Clayton County court records and the Cuyahoga County, Ohio Clerk of Court:

Chiara Yelena Brown, 40, of 105 Venetian Way in Rome was arrested at 9:16 p.m. Thursday on charges of check fraud, giving false statements, forgery in the first degree, giving false name or address to a police officer and being a fugitive from justice in Ohio.

In Ohio, there are two open cases against her charging two counts of theft and one each of forgery and false uttering. She has previously pleaded guilty, and been sentenced, to assaulting a peace officer, felonious assault and theft.

She is also being held to face two outstanding bad check charges in Clayton County, Ga.

Brown, along with two others, is part owner of the two semi-professional basketball teams scheduled to begin playing in Rome in the next few weeks. The Gladiators have been World Basketball Association champions the past two seasons and was sold last fall.

For more on this report, see Saturday's Rome News-Tribune.

[The Magician]

WOW! How soon can I become apart of THE NEW ABA ... They say "Image is everything!"

Let me just refresh some dialogue for us that just took place at the ABA Meeting ...

Rio Valley owner ... "Joe are you screening new owners?"

Joe ... "We screen everybody"

Rio Valley ... "We have been around for a year waiting to play and you didnt screen us."

Joe ... "Ok, I'll screen you guys today.

[The Magician]

http://209.41.184.21/partners/680/public/news800621.html

Arrest of co-owner clouds Glads’ future

04/21/07
David Dawson, Rome News-Tribune Sports Writer
Respond to this story

Rome Gladiators and Knights co-owner Yelena Brown was arrested on multiple charges Thursday night.

It appears the final buzzer might have sounded for the Rome Gladiators and Rome Knights.

After a bizarre series of events that included the exodus of the entire coaching staff and the recent jailing of the teams’ co-owner, it is now a possibility that Rome’s two semi-pro basketball teams will disband.

The Gladiators, the two-time defending champs of the World Basketball Association, were scheduled to begin their fourth season in Rome next month. The Knights, newcomers to the American Basketball Association, were slated to begin their inaugural season this winter.

But recent developments have left the future of both teams in doubt.

Yelena Brown, one of the co-owners of the teams, has been in Floyd County Jail since late Thursday night on a variety of charges.

Brown is one of four co-owners of the two Rome teams — which share the same players, coaches, and owners. The WBA’s Web site lists Alexis Prasinos, Anita Crump and Jacob Faulkner as the other owners.

According to court records, Brown, 40, was arrested Thursday night on charges of check fraud, giving false statements, forgery in the first degree, giving false name or address to a police officer and being a fugitive from justice in Ohio.

Brown’s arrest comes roughly one week after the departure of the teams’ former coach, Cabral Huff, who parted ways with the organization after he and his staff began having doubts about the honesty of the team’s ownership.

Huff said on Friday he thinks this might be the end for the two Rome teams.

“I think it’s going to be very tough for them (the Gladiators and Knights) to continue in light of what has taken place in the last few days,” said Huff. “It’s going to be difficult for them to do all the things that need to get done before May 4 (when the WBA is scheduled to open its season).”

Huff said he has never had any contact with any of the team’s other co-owners, aside from Brown. Bobby Rouse, the teams’ director of player personel, likewise said he had never met the other owners.

Huff said the lack of communication between himself and the other owners “was part of the problem” that prompted him to leave the organization.

Huff announced his resignation as coach in an e-mail to the Rome News-Tribune on Monday morning, but the details of his leaving were disputed later that night by Brown, who said Huff and his coaches were “let go.”

The incident sparked a firestorm.

Thoughout the week, Huff’s staff confirmed his accounts of the situation, and, in e-mails sent to the Rome News-Tribune, cited several suspicious developments inside the organization.

One staff member said money that had been donated to the team for uniforms came up missing, and another staff member said she was never reimbursed for gas money, as was promised by ownership.

Still, the news of Brown’s arrest came as a surprise to Huff, who said he did not “realize the depth” of the legal matters surrounding Brown.

There are two open cases against her in Ohio, charging two counts of theft and one each of forgery and false uttering. She has previously pleaded guilty, and been sentenced, to assaulting a peace officer, felonious assault and theft. She is also being held to face two outstanding bad check charges in Clayton County.

Huff said he learned of her arrest Friday morning when he received several phone calls from friends.

For now, he said he and his staff are attempting to distance themselves from the entire situation.

Huff’s staff, which announced its resignation jointly with Huff, included general manager Lindsey Maxwell, assistant general manager Anthony Hill, associate head coach Inca Harvey, assistant coach Bryant Caldwell, sales director Gayle Crawford, media director Fallon Wright and Rouse.

“We’re moving forward,” he said. “We’re a very tight-knit group, and we’d like to just put this behind us.”

Huff, who was recently approached by another WBA team about a coaching position, said he’s uncertain about the future of the WBA, which this year had its schedule pushed back due to illness in the league’s front office.

Huff, the former head coach of the Cedartown High boys team and a current teacher at Cedartown, wrote in his e-mail this week that the mass resignations from he and his staff were the result of the “lack of professionalism and honesty” of ownership.

Huff plans to continue teaching in the Rome area next year, and said he might look into possible high school coaching openings.

[QC_Hawks_fan]

"League officials released a statement today stating that the current news reports regarding the aforementioned owner and team are fine and operating well within ABA Standards and Policies" "We don't see anything out of the ordinary with this, we've been allowing this to happen for 3 years and we strongly encourage such activity" "Bad press is better than no press"

*this was my attempt at humor**

[SignGuyDino]

According to court records, Brown, 40, was arrested Thursday night on charges of check fraud, giving false statements, forgery in the first degree, giving false name or address to a police officer and being a fugitive from justice in Ohio.

Why does this sound familiar? Why does this sound so freaking familiar??


I just...can't...place it....


This is shocking, the ABA I can believe allowing this to happen but the WBA? The WBA had a lot of good things going for itself. Very upsetting....

[TheHulk]

Why does this sound familiar? Why does this sound so freaking familiar??


I just...can't...place it....


This is shocking, the ABA I can believe allowing this to happen but the WBA? The WBA had a lot of good things going for itself. Very upsetting....

Conspiracy theorists unite!!! NIFL...ABA....the same league? lol

[DaveHolmes]

Oh man, I read the thread title and thought this was about Joe.

[rams80]

http://209.41.184.21/partners/680/public/news800621.html

Arrest of co-owner clouds Glads’ future

04/21/07
David Dawson, Rome News-Tribune Sports Writer
Respond to this story

Rome Gladiators and Knights co-owner Yelena Brown was arrested on multiple charges Thursday night.

It appears the final buzzer might have sounded for the Rome Gladiators and Rome Knights.

After a bizarre series of events that included the exodus of the entire coaching staff and the recent jailing of the teams’ co-owner, it is now a possibility that Rome’s two semi-pro basketball teams will disband.

The Gladiators, the two-time defending champs of the World Basketball Association, were scheduled to begin their fourth season in Rome next month. The Knights, newcomers to the American Basketball Association, were slated to begin their inaugural season this winter.

But recent developments have left the future of both teams in doubt.

Yelena Brown, one of the co-owners of the teams, has been in Floyd County Jail since late Thursday night on a variety of charges.

Brown is one of four co-owners of the two Rome teams — which share the same players, coaches, and owners. The WBA’s Web site lists Alexis Prasinos, Anita Crump and Jacob Faulkner as the other owners.

According to court records, Brown, 40, was arrested Thursday night on charges of check fraud, giving false statements, forgery in the first degree, giving false name or address to a police officer and being a fugitive from justice in Ohio.

Brown’s arrest comes roughly one week after the departure of the teams’ former coach, Cabral Huff, who parted ways with the organization after he and his staff began having doubts about the honesty of the team’s ownership.

Huff said on Friday he thinks this might be the end for the two Rome teams.

“I think it’s going to be very tough for them (the Gladiators and Knights) to continue in light of what has taken place in the last few days,” said Huff. “It’s going to be difficult for them to do all the things that need to get done before May 4 (when the WBA is scheduled to open its season).”

Huff said he has never had any contact with any of the team’s other co-owners, aside from Brown. Bobby Rouse, the teams’ director of player personel, likewise said he had never met the other owners.

Huff said the lack of communication between himself and the other owners “was part of the problem” that prompted him to leave the organization.

Huff announced his resignation as coach in an e-mail to the Rome News-Tribune on Monday morning, but the details of his leaving were disputed later that night by Brown, who said Huff and his coaches were “let go.”

The incident sparked a firestorm.

Thoughout the week, Huff’s staff confirmed his accounts of the situation, and, in e-mails sent to the Rome News-Tribune, cited several suspicious developments inside the organization.

One staff member said money that had been donated to the team for uniforms came up missing, and another staff member said she was never reimbursed for gas money, as was promised by ownership.

Still, the news of Brown’s arrest came as a surprise to Huff, who said he did not “realize the depth” of the legal matters surrounding Brown.

There are two open cases against her in Ohio, charging two counts of theft and one each of forgery and false uttering. She has previously pleaded guilty, and been sentenced, to assaulting a peace officer, felonious assault and theft. She is also being held to face two outstanding bad check charges in Clayton County.

Huff said he learned of her arrest Friday morning when he received several phone calls from friends.

For now, he said he and his staff are attempting to distance themselves from the entire situation.

Huff’s staff, which announced its resignation jointly with Huff, included general manager Lindsey Maxwell, assistant general manager Anthony Hill, associate head coach Inca Harvey, assistant coach Bryant Caldwell, sales director Gayle Crawford, media director Fallon Wright and Rouse.

“We’re moving forward,” he said. “We’re a very tight-knit group, and we’d like to just put this behind us.”

Huff, who was recently approached by another WBA team about a coaching position, said he’s uncertain about the future of the WBA, which this year had its schedule pushed back due to illness in the league’s front office.

Huff, the former head coach of the Cedartown High boys team and a current teacher at Cedartown, wrote in his e-mail this week that the mass resignations from he and his staff were the result of the “lack of professionalism and honesty” of ownership.

Huff plans to continue teaching in the Rome area next year, and said he might look into possible high school coaching openings.

Can you say Oops?

[Sam Hill]

Mary Liss was unavailable for comment.

[The Magician]

http://www.usbasket.com/wba/wba.asp

Hardhats defeat Gladiators 119-102, healing process in Rome
by Chris Terrell - May 13, 2007

Rome, GA - The Atlanta Hardhats (1-2) get their first win of the season, defeat Rome Gladiators (0-1) 119-102. In WBA action on Saturday, the Rome Gladiators set out to defend their Championship and started the season on a rough note. The Gladiators have had to face some uncertainty this off-season as an ownership group that had acquired the historically successful franchise had severe legal issues that would affect every aspect of running a professional team. The league had to step in and reaquire the ownership interest and is currently working with another ownership group in Rome on the sale of the 2-time champions. The Glads have some work to do to catch up to the rest of the league and started the season without their full expected line-up in place.

The Gladiators couldn't get going on the offensive end of the court and had trouble stopping the Hardhats as Atlanta built a 17 point lead, that they never relinquished. There were some sparks for the Glads though with forward Jemere Hendrix (6'8''-F-83, college: Tennessee) pouring in 29 pts and Josh Talley (6'2''-G-84) adding 23. The Hardhats were lead by Jonathan Kelly (6'6''-G-84, college: Florida A&M) who lead all scorers with 37 and followed by Terico Smothers (6'4''-G) with 27.

Rome Gladiators Head Coach Gerald Oliver when asked about the set back said "First things first, we have people surrounding this organization that want to do things the right way. Perk (referring to Floyd County Head Coach Sean Perkins) and I have met with the community and the people here in Rome love the Gladiators. The owner of the Hardhats franchise has stepped in to help us right this ship and the league is currently talking to potential long term ownership groups in Rome and their big things on the horizon for this team. We expect to have Mike Harper and Ike McCowem with us next week and I want to remind people Rome was not built in a day. This season is 20 games and then the playoffs, we'll be where we need to be come winning time and the people of Rome will have a team and an organization that they can support."

Director of Basketball Operations Chris Terrell said "We want the right type of ownership group and we would like for that group to be representative of the proud city of Rome. Romans have a special place in their hearts for the Gladiators and only someone that can carry on that legacy in a dignified way will control the interests of the team. We want to thank Jerry Montgomery for taking on this task until we have another ownership group in place."

On the court, the players didn't give up, a little undersized and needing of reinforcements but have some key aspects in place of a winning team. Add that to the coaches and management now in place their should be big things happening in Rome for time to come. An interesting cross town rival is building with neighboring Floyd County Rage and things will be looking up in Rome. Final score Atlanta 119 Rome 102.

www.wbaball.net

So has the ABA Rome Knights' (WBA Gladiators) Market Reservation been terminated since the Rome Gladiators ownership interest has been reacquired by the WBA?

Rome is still listed on the ABA Current Teams list for 2007-2008 ...
http://www.abalive.com/teams/

[dclarke69]

I am the owner of the OC Gladiators and as far as I know, my criminal record is still clean. Just wanted to make sure there was no confustion as we are progressing very well towards our first season here in Orange County.

Season ticekts will be available online within the next 7-10 days if anyone is interested in checking us out.

[OneBetter]

I am the owner of the OC Gladiators and as far as I know, my criminal record is still clean. Just wanted to make sure there was no confustion as we are progressing very well towards our first season here in Orange County.

Season ticekts will be available online within the next 7-10 days if anyone is interested in checking us out.

I noticed from a recent press release that you will be playing in a high school gym like so many previously-failed ABA franchises. What makes you any different and why should the people of Orange County come to your games in a high school venue? In the press release, the high school principal made it very clear that you guys would be second fiddle to their teams as well as youth sports teams. That puts you guys pretty low on the totum poll.

Could you tell us why any reputable fan should take your organization serious when you're already well on your way down the road that so many failed ABA franchises have already traveled?

[dclarke69]

Most teams are not well financed and my team is. I am the only owner and shareholder of the team. Many teams get into venues that they cannot afford. This is a start-up business and must be viewed as suchso as we build our brand in the community, we may grow out of the facility and into something bigger but the venue we are playing at is very nice and the finances work.

If you live around OC, come see a game and see for yourself.

[AConcernedCitizen]

Hope you are able to gain a foothold this season and provide value for money for the fans you are able to gain to sample your product. Personally, I believe that if you provide some exciting games at a reasonable price it doesn't matter in the least where you play your games.

People who are so in love with arenas should just go and sit in them. I don't go to a venue to sit and say, oohhhh, what a wonderful room! I go to watch games.

[The Magician]

Does anybody have a status on the Rome Knights for 2007-2008?