Ex-USOC official grilled over '01 taxes

The wheelings and dealings of a former U.S. Olympic Committee official who had a secret contract with the Salt Lake bid may not have ended when he was charged in connection with the government's case against Tom Welch and Dave Johnson.

During cross-examination Wednesday, Alfredo LaMont, former USOC international relations director, acknowledged he failed to pay $175,000 in taxes in 2001, a year after he pleaded guilty to two tax felonies, including one involving earnings from the Salt Lake bid.

Blair Brown, an attorney for Welch, attempted to suggest that LaMont had violated the conditions of his plea bargain with the government because of his outstanding tax bill. LaMont, however, said the amount owed was in dispute and has been settled.

LaMont's tax problems capped nearly a full day of testimony in the trial of Welch and Johnson on charges of conspiracy, fraud and racketeering in connection with the more than $1 million in cash and gifts handed out to International Olympic Committee members during the bid.

The pair hired LaMont in 1989 to help Salt Lake City win the votes of the USOC as the country's candidate for the 1998 Winter Games, which were awarded by the IOC to Nagano, Japan. The relationship continued through the successful bid for the 2002 Winter Games.

His duties included paying what he described in court as a bribe to Austin Sealy, an IOC member from Barbados. "Mr. Welch and Mr. Johnson asked me to make some money available to Mr. Sealy," La Mont testified. "I couldn't offer him a bribe. He was my friend."

Instead, LaMont told Sealy he wanted to "get involved in a commercial venture with him" through LaMont's own import-export company. He did not disclose who was really paying the $3,000 monthly retainer, set to start in June 1995, the month Salt Lake got the 2002 Games.

The first check ended up going to Sealy's son after the IOC member sent it back to LaMont. Welch told him to keep the remaining $9,000 paid on the contract as a bonus and to "shut it down," LaMont testified.

Sealy received a warning from the IOC in 1999 for his role in the scandal.

LaMont went to great effort to conceal his work for Salt Lake from the USOC. He was forced to resign from the Colorado Springs-based organization in January 1999, shortly after the scandal surrounding the bid surfaced.

His name does not appear on his contracts with the bid committee, which paid him a total of $48,000. He said he signed one contract using the name of a friend living in Mexico City. Checks went either to his friend or to an aunt in Brownsville, Texas.

LaMont said he told the bid leaders several times that he'd need a high-ranking job with Salt Lake City should the USOC find out about his work with the bid. One proposal from LaMont said the position would have to be "at the vice president level at least."

The arrangement between LaMont and the bid may well have put Salt Lake's candidacy at risk as well, had the USOC known.

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E-mail: lisa@desnews.com

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