It's a time-tested lesson. If you have the same name as a famous sports star, use this coincidental advantage sparingly and never in the presence of someone who decides how long you will go to jail. Case and point, I give you Charles D. "Butch" Bisesi . Butch was recently in a Syracuse court on fraud and forgery-related charges in front of Judge William Walsh. Walsh recalled a time when he was in high school when a Charles Bisesi at nearby St. Lucy High School scored 63 points in a game and asked if Bisesi was that Charles. He naturally claimed that he was. Just one itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny problem. He actually wasn't.
The Charles Bisesi in question is actually Charles F. "Chuck" Bisesi, former basketball coach at Bishop Cunningham High School where he won a state championship and, previous to that, a star player at St. Lucy where he was a first-team all-league selection three years in a row averaging over 33 points per game! Oh, and he was nominated for the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame a couple weeks ago. Not exactly an NBA superstar but there are few worse times to try and pass yourself off as the local hero in Syracuse.
Naturally, Judge Walsh caught wind of this and, sufficed to say, he was less than pleased with the lie:
Charles D. "Butch" Bisesi was to have been sentenced to serve one to three years in prison for fraud and forgery-related convicitons. But County Judge William Walsh today said he did not intend to go allow with that plea deal because Bisesi misrepressented his background to the judge.Harsh! What's the penalty for impersonating Dick MacPherson in Syracuse? Death by swift kicks to the groin?
Accusing the defendant of having "tarnished the reputation of a good man" in claiming the other Bisesi's accomplishments as his own, Walsh said he was considering sentencing Butch Bisesi as a persistent felony offender to serve up to life in prison.