Monday, April 10, 2006

A Couple of Bruce Drennan Clarifications

OMW dutifully passed along an early Plain Dealer report on the Cleveland.com website... that former WKNR/850 host Bruce Drennan was now facing federal charges of cheating on his taxes. We later noticed the story that actually ran in the newspaper the next morning, and figured we'd better clear up a couple of points in Drennan's case that were not covered in the initial Internet report.

In specific, it appears the feds will NOT charge Drennan in the gambling probe itself, which saw two other men - David Hammon Sr., and David Hammon Jr. - see prison time. An assistant U.S. attorney tells the Plain Dealer's Mike Tobin that the investigation into Drennan's alleged involvement in the gambling ring is "finished" and that gambling charges won't be filed against him.

But as others will tell you, the federal tax charges are more than enough trouble for the popular local sportscaster. He could get three years in prison and a $250,000 fine, though the PD notes that many get more lenient sentences. We were told long ago by a wise person that "you don't mess with two organizations - the IRS and the phone company"...just ask WKRP in Cincinnati's Dr. Johnny Fever about that last one.

And about Drennan's gig as program director and midday host at SportsTalkNetwork.com... STN's Paul Belfi says the news "does not change" his status at the Internet webcaster, and says he has "nothing but high regard" for Drennan. When we tried to tune in Friday, we didn't know that Drennan apparently doesn't do a Friday show regularly...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Drennan will serve 5 months in federal prison (believed to be in PA) for the tax evasion charges... no walk in the park, but it could've conceivably been a lot lot worse...

looks like Drennan was correct when he discussed his case with this individual months ago...

"They'll never get me on the gambling - I got the best attorney in the land [Albert Guliani]!" Drennan said.

"They'll get me on the taxes, but not the gambling."

Looks like he hedged his bets correctly on that one...

Anonymous said...

They'll get him on the gambling if they ever ask ME to testify. I worked with the guy, and he flashed more mammoth rolls of cash in front of me than you can imagine, while simultaneously filling out his betting tickets during commercial breaks. I know every detail, and if they ever ask, I'll tell.