Thomas Hopper, who failed in an effort to buy the team in 2002, to be sentenced for wire fraud.
By FRANK PASTOR, Times Staff Writer
Published April 17, 2005
TAMPA - Thomas Hopper, the Michigan businessman who failed in an attempt to purchase the Storm in 2002, faces a possible 30-37 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges of wire fraud Thursday in a Flint, Mich., federal court.
Hopper, 56, defrauded Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Co. of $1.829-million from Jan. 24-April 11, 2002, by misappropriating and diverting funds to pay for personal business transactions such as purchasing the Storm, federal court documents show.
To execute the scheme, Hopper wired money from a Commonwealth trust account overseen by Klear Title, LLC, a limited liability company controlled by Hopper, to a personal account in Ottawa, Ontario.
Hopper is scheduled to be sentenced in July. He would have faced up to five years in prison but likely will receive a shorter sentence after entering into the plea agreement, under which he gave up some of his appeal rights.
Hopper was introduced as the Storm's new owner during a March 14, 2002, news conference at the St. Pete Times Forum, then known as the Ice Palace. It was announced that he purchased the team from Peter C. "Woody" Kern for more than $12-million, then the largest amount paid for an Arena Football League team.
Hopper paid about $1-million up front in the all-cash deal, which was approved by the Arena league's board of directors. When he failed to come up with the remaining money three months after the announcement, Kern retained majority ownership.
In November, Ron Kurpiers, the attorney for Storm coach and general manager Tim Marcum, said calls made by Hopper and his wife, Amy, who is Marcum's ex-wife, initiated an investigation that led to charges against Marcum of defrauding an insurance company.
Marcum is accused of filing a false $10,000 claim on his 18-foot fishing boat. He has a pretrial hearing scheduled for May 10.
The calls, Kurpiers said, coincided with lawsuits for breach of contract Marcum and Kern filed against Hopper in conjunction with Hopper's failed attempt to buy the Storm.
A federal judge awarded Kern $600,000, according to court records. Marcum's case was settled through mediation.
Times researcher Carolyn Cedds contributed to this report.
