A retired professional wrestler convicted of drug crimes involving anabolic steroids and cocaine decades ago cited the fallout from a high-profile car crash that killed three Macomb County teens and injured his son to avoid prison for his latest offense, cheating the Internal Revenue Service.
Federal court records and interviews show how a tragedy that devastated parts of Macomb County echoed inside a Detroit federal courtroom more than a decade later and how that wrestler, Shelby Township resident Gregory Bobchick, wriggled free of prison despite prosecutors requesting one year behind bars.
Bobchick, 62, a serial criminal who owned Jet’s Pizza franchises and a manufacturing company, was in court 11 years after his son, Greg Bobchick Jr., and four other 17-year-old high school students were riding in a 2008 Jaguar in Stony Creek Metropark that lost control, hit a guardrail and rolled, ejecting some of the occupants. The crash killed Sterling Heights residents Michael Wells, Jonathan Manolios and Emanuel “Manny” Malaj while Greg Bobchick Jr. and a second teen, Joseph Narra, survived after suffering serious injuries.
Bobchick, his lawyer and U.S. District Judge Matthew Leitman cited the car crash during a sentencing hearing while debating whether Bobchick should be sent back to prison after being convicted of a fourth crime during a life filled with squandered chances, tragedy and lots of law enforcement officers.
“I told myself I would never be back in a place like this,” Bobchick told the judge May 14 after wiping tears from his eyes.
Bobchick was back in a place like that for evading federal income taxes. The businessman admitted failing to report more than $1.2 million in income from 2017-19 and pocketing more than $343,000 that should have gone to the IRS.
The prosecution marked what has become a rare federal crackdown on tax evasion. Prosecutions have plummeted nationally and in the eastern half of Michigan in the last decade amid workforce cuts and a change in Justice Department priorities.
Nine people in Michigan were sentenced to federal prison for tax crimes last year, down from a decade-high 27 people in 2015 and 2017, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission. The median sentence during the last decade was six months in prison.
Echoes of crash surface in court
Prosecutors wanted Bobchick to spend twice as much time in prison. Instead, the judge sentenced him to six months of house arrest, two years’ probation and ordered Bobchick to pay restitution to the IRS.
“It sounds to me like you were in a crisis,” Leitman said, referring to financial woes that allegedly prompted Bobchick’s actions. “I don’t think he’s a bad person.”
Malaj’s brother, Rolant Malaj, did not like that Bobchick cited the accident to get a lesser sentence.
“For them to bring it up,” Malaj told The News, “shame on them.
“If I was the judge, I would have given him triple time for even bringing that up,” he added.
After the fatal car crash involving Greg Bobchick Jr.’s vehicle, numerous lawsuits were filed, including one by the estate of Michael Wells. That lawsuit references a consent judgment between the estate, Bobchick and his wife, Dawn Bobchick, both of whom insured the Jaguar. The judgment relates to the estate’s allegation that the Bobchicks provided alcohol to the teens and “the provision of that alcohol resulted in Michael’s death,” according to court records.
Court filings also indicate “there was no evidence that Ms. Bobchick observed or suspected John Manolios to be under the influence of alcohol before the boys left for the park.” Investigators said Manolios was driving the Jaguar at the time of the crash but his family disputed that allegation.
Reminders of the crash were on display May 14 in federal court in downtown Detroit as prosecutors pushed for a year-long sentence and Bobchick fought for probation, pointing to lingering problems related to the crash. Bobchick was armed with more than 20 letters from supporters who portrayed him as a supportive father, a church-going man and an entrepreneur, not merely a serial criminal with convictions for drugs from about 30 years ago and a 2007 conviction for a drunken driving charge.
The sentencing hearing focused on whether Bobchick cheating Uncle Sam was an anomaly for a man prosecutors said had “generally lived a law-abiding life throughout his adulthood,” or if the tax crime was so serious that he deserved prison time.
‘A stand-up guy … an absolute gem’
Greg Bobchick Sr.’s early life was filled with promise. Wrestling in the 145-pound weight class for Lincoln High School in Warren, Bobchick was Class A state champion in 1982. He received a wrestling scholarship at Michigan State University and left without a degree before joining the sport’s minor leagues in the U.S. and Japan in the early 1990s.
By then, the mulleted 6-foot-tall Bobchick, dressed in red-white-and-blue trunks, was 85 pounds heavier and introduced to crowds as “Spartan” and “The All American.”
“Greg was one of the nicest guys I ever met in the business,” former pro wrestler Tom Cairo told The Detroit News in an interview. “And I can count those people in that category on one hand.”
Bobchick and Cairo competed against each other and traveled to events in Japan in 1993.
“Just a great athlete. He was very proficient and that’s why he was one of the guys that got picked to go over there,” Cairo said. “A stand-up guy. He’s one of the best dudes I know. A gem. An absolute gem.”
Bobchick competed in regional wrestling circuits, including Border City Wrestling in Michigan, Union of Professional Wrestling Force International and South Atlantic Pro Wrestling. He occasionally crossed paths with legends.
In 1992, he teamed with WWE Hall of Fame member Wahoo McDaniel. During an event in Japan in 1993, Bobchick appeared on the same card as retired wrestler and mixed martial artist Ken Shamrock and competed against Yoshihiro Takayama, known for one of the most brutal battles in MMA history.
Outside the ring, troubles mount
Bobchick’s life outside the ring has been filled with crimes and pain.
In May 1994, six months after losing to Takayama, Bobchick was sentenced in a federal case involving the distribution of anabolic steroids and other controlled substances. He spent more than a year in jail.
That same year, he was convicted of distributing cocaine in Macomb County and sentenced to probation, court records show. And more than a decade later, in 2007, Bobchick was convicted of the drunken-driving charge at age 43.
“Although he had problems in his youth,” Bobchick’s lawyer, James Howarth, said, “he’s not a criminal person.”
Despite the legal problems, Bobchick built a business career over the past 20-plus years, owning everything from a machining shop to Jet’s Pizza franchises in Michigan, Tennessee and Florida.
Bobchick incorporated 3D Machining Inc. in Fraser in 2016. Its largest customer was foam cup manufacturer Dart Container Corp.
The Dart work was lucrative. But instead of depositing money in the bank, Bobchick cashed hundreds of checks at check-cashing businesses from 2017-19, paying more than 20% in fees every time.
The tactic helped Bobchick avoid paying federal taxes. He avoided reporting more than $1.2 million and pocketed more than $343,000 that otherwise should have gone to the IRS, a federal prosecutor said.
“This was not an impulsive act or a one-time lapse in judgment … ,” Assistant U.S. Attorney John Neal wrote in a sentencing memorandum. “It is troubling to the government that Mr. Bobchick willfully engaged in criminal conduct despite having experienced the consequences of criminal behavior as a young man.”
Bobchick’s lawyer blamed the scheme on short-term cash flow problems and portrayed the check cashing as a desperate response to business needs.
Howarth referenced the fatal crash and Greg Bobchick Jr.’s “traumatic head injuries” while asking Judge Leitman to spare his client from federal prison, calling the two-time felon “a responsible citizen, good family provider, excellent church-community worker and just a decent human.”
“His son, Gregory, was severely injured in an auto accident and still suffers from traumatic head injuries,” the lawyer wrote in a sentencing memo.
Bobchick described being trapped when the judge pressed him to explain why he kept cashing Dart checks at check-cashing businesses instead of depositing the money in a bank.
Bobchick said he turned to check-cashing businesses after failing to obtain a line of credit from banks. One check-cashing business offered to loan as much as $40,000 if Bobchick continued cashing Dart checks at his business.
“I would lose my line of credit if I stopped using him,” Bobchick said.
Neal, the prosecutor, said it was more likely that the focus of the scheme was Bobchick trying to avoid paying taxes.
Howarth distinguished this case from other financial crimes, arguing Bobchick did not live lavishly or buy luxury items with money withheld from the IRS.
“He has lived nothing but a spartan lifestyle,” Howarth told the judge. “Mr. Bobchick is a person who probably doesn’t know what the word luxury means.”
Amid the criminal investigation and prosecution, the spartan lifestyle has become more acute, Howarth said.
Bobchick rents a home, is struggling financially and cuts grass for the city of Detroit, Howarth said.
Bobchick started crying when he referenced the fatal car wreck that left his son living with a head injury.
Bobchick’s lawyer also described the retired wrestler’s importance to the family and need to avoid prison.
“His son was in a horrific automobile accident,” Howarth told the judge while asking the judge to keep Bobchick out of prison. “He is emotionally scarred to this day. Mr. Bobchick is the glue that holds this family together. His children all live at home and look to him to hold them together.
“If this is a reasonable request and can be granted,” Howarth added in the sentencing memo, “justice will be served.”
rsnell@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Fallout from Macomb fatal wreck looms over sentencing of pro wrestler
Reporting by Robert Snell, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
