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CNN Live At Daybreak
Sicignano Gold Club Trial Testimony Would Expose Many
Aired June 14, 2001 - 08:24 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: It's got strippers, illicit sex, pro athletes, Mafia connections; the Gold Club trial seems to have everything.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: But the criminal charges are serious: racketeering and conspiracy. And at the center of the stage -- or the case, rather -- a new dancing club and tourist attraction right here in Atlanta.
The latest from CNN's Art Harris.
(RUN VIDEOTAPE)
ART HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That's Thomas "Ziggy" Sicignano, head coach and founder of Brooklyn USA, a nonprofit program that, he says, takes kids off mean streets and helps them to Main Streets.
THOMAS SICIGNANO, FOUNDER, BROOKLYN USA: You know, our goal in our mission statement is very simple: using basketball to get kids to college.
HARRIS: But recently, Sicignano has been spending more time in federal court in Atlanta, a star witness in the Gold Club trial, testifying against his former friend and boss strip-club owner Steve Kaplan. Sicignano may deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty to a felony in return for his testimony. Kaplan and six others are accused in a racketeering and conspiracy case centered on the strip club, including charges Kaplan paid dancers to have sex with professional athletes.
Sicignano named names: big names, including former Knick Patrick Ewing. Much of Sicignano's testimony was based on what he claimed Kaplan told him.
SICIGNANO: He had Patrick Ewing, and there were some girls there, and one thing led to another. Steve said he had girls on them, and they performed oral sex.
HARRIS: Sicignano worked off and on at the Gold Club for five years as a manager. He says Kaplan wanted to attract athletes and other celebrities, to drive business. Sicignano says they called it the formula. The club grossed up to $20 million a year. SICIGNANO: Steve seen that athletes were vulnerable. They're celebrities. They think everybody wants them. He has the number one weakness of men throughout history: women. And he has a 100 of them, and they're naked every night.
HARRIS: Sicignano testified that, with Kaplan's directions, he took Gold Club strippers to this hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, where, he says, they were paid to have sex with members of the New York Knicks. But defense lawyers charged that if there was prostitution, Sicignano arranged everything -- that he acted as a pimp, not Kaplan.
SICIGNANO: Steve Kaplan always made money, so if there's any pimp in there, it's he who makes money is a pimp. That's in the dictionary. All I did was bring girls up there. I'm not saying it was right. It's a very shameful thing.
HARRIS: The defense attorneys say that if Sicignano is the best that the government can do, their clients are in good shape.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: If this was to be the government's star witness, they need to do better.
HARRIS: Sicignano could still face fallout after testifying he and Kaplan delivered strippers to the hotel room of basketball player Antonio Davis. Davis now says he's suing Sicignano.
ANTONIO DAVIS, PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE: These statements are false. And not only are they false, they're just malicious lies.
HARRIS: But in an interview with CNN, Sicignano stuck by his testimony.
SICIGNANO: Two women entered his room. And really, I'd rather not comment. Let Antonio Davis go on TV and say what he wants.
HARRIS (on camera): No athlete is charged with any wrongdoing in the Gold Club case, but several are expected to testify, including Patrick Ewing. So far, he's declined comments. Sources tell CNN, in several weeks, the first athlete will take the stand -- likely Terrell Davis, of the Denver Broncos.
Art Harris, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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