Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 19, 1990 TAG: 9003192552
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Short
The New York Daily News, in Sunday's editions, said Steinbrenner admits to paying $40,000 to Howard Spira on Jan. 8. Spira gave Steinbrenner information to use in his lawsuit against Yankees outfielder Dave Winfield, but Steinbrenner said that was not the reason for the payment.
Spira signed an agreement promising never to disclose the payoff, but the newspaper says he has since threatened to make it public, along with their tape-recorded conversations, unless Steinbrenner gives him $110,000 and a job at his American Shipbuilding Co. in Tampa, Fla.
"Steinbrenner is a sick liar," Spira told The Associated Press on Sunday. "This man promised me the world and kept me isolated in this house with his promises. He is trying to frame me and put me in jail. This man is so two-faced he sees out of his head two sides at once."
Steinbrenner, in turn, has accused Spira of "extortion in its purest form." Spira is under investigation by the FBI, which raided the apartment where he lives with his parents and seized tapes, documents and other records, according to the Daily News.
In 1981, when he was 21, Spira became associated with Winfield's agent, Al Frohman. Although he was not paid, Spira did public relations work for the David M. Winfield Foundation.
Winfield has denied Spira's charges that the player threatened to kill him if he didn't quickly repay a $15,000 loan on a gambling debt.
by CNB