Ex-Policeman, Sports Shop Owner Gets 30 Months

A former police officer who lost his baseball card and memorabilia shop in a federal drug investigation was sentenced Monday to 30 months in prison for two convictions in a related case.

U.S. District Judge William B. Enright also denied bail for Robert Paul Flint during appeals of his two-count conviction for making a false claim against the United States and inducing another person to commit perjury.

The convictions stem from Flint’s efforts to get back some of the items taken when his business, The Sports Shop, was seized in July, 1990, by narcotics agents probing his possible involvement in drug trafficking.

The government confiscated more than 400,000 baseball cards and other sports collectibles from the El Cajon shop, including bats, balls and signed photographs of former major league stars.

Prosecutors accused Flint, 47, of El Cajon, of buying many of those items with illicit drug profits, but they acknowledged that some were in his shop to be appraised or had been consigned to Flint for resale.

There were no proper business records for the merchandise, so Flint asked several claimants to tell the government that they owned some items he had purchased with drug profits, Assistant U.S. Atty. Phil Halpern said.

Flint offered to split the proceeds with those people after the government honored their phony claims for collectibles, including numerous signed photos of baseball legends Mickey Mantle, Roberto Clemente, Ted Williams, Lefty Gomez and Carl Hubbell.

Only one woman agreed to the plan, but later she voluntarily admitted her perjury to government agents and eventually testified against Flint at trial, Halpern said.

Narcotics agents believed Flint was an intermediary for Colombian drug dealers, but the former San Diego police officer was never charged in the drug investigation.

His shop and other property, including a palatial Central California home, were taken under a federal law allowing such seizures if authorities believe assets were obtained with drug proceeds and the owner can’t prove otherwise.

The Sports Shop was targeted, court records say, because telephone records showed several calls were made from it to individuals in Colombia who had been identified by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as narcotics smugglers, court records show.

Prosecutors have said the seizure was unique because of the volume and novelty of the collectibles involved.

The card shop and property have been valued at an estimated $1.1 million, including baseball cards worth $178,772.

Authorities plan to auction the cards and Flint’s other memorabilia later this year. Much of the money raised will go to people who had legitimate business dealings with Flint’s shop.