Lynn Camp football booster club to be investigated by state gaming officials

A defunct local bingo charity that, for more than a decade, raised money to help the Lynn Camp High School Football program is coming under fire from some local residents, and its activities will be the subject of an investigation, state charitable gaming officials confirmed this week.

According to Bob Sparrow, Director of Enforcement for the Kentucky Department of Charitable Gaming, the department plans to initiate an investigation into the Lynn Camp Quarterback Club, Inc., a group created in 1992 to support the high school football program, but finally disbanded by the Secretary of State in 2007 for failing to file an annual report.
Sparrow said the investigation comes on the heels of a complaint filed last week with the Department of Charitable Gaming. He would not reveal who made the complaint.

"This is just an allegation at this point," Sparrow said. "I don’t want to take a chance on damaging any investigation."
Sparrow would not say whether the investigation was simply an inquiry over compliance issues or if it will be criminal in nature.

Tracy Eagle, a local sign company owner and substitute teacher, confirmed Monday that he and his wife, Penny, made the complaint to the Department of Charitable Gaming and supplied a stack of paperwork to investigators as well. The couple said they became concerned as early as April 2009 when they tried to revive the Quarterback Club, only to find it was mired in tax issues and bingo licensing questions.

"The Department of Charitable Gaming told us not to be affiliated with the Lynn Camp Quarterback Club, that they were in bad standing," Penny Eagle said. "Even the IRS said that if we had our name on their [bank accounts] to get it off, and we did the next day."

Eagle said she became worried when the Internal Revenue Service sent notices to their home saying the organization owed over $43,000 in tax penalties and interest. It was then they started to do a little research.

They found the Quarterback Club had not filed any Form 990 tax returns – the type required for non-profit, income tax exempt organizations – since 2003. Penny Eagle said she is certain the club was actively raising money through bingo games through 2006. How much was raised, and what happened to it is anyone’s guess.

Bank statements during the three-year period show many checks issued for things that mostly likely benefited the football program like payments to sporting goods stores, food, concession supplies, football camp fees, etc. But there’s also thousands of dollars in checks written merely for "cash," many of them signed by Lynn Camp head football coach David Mitchell and others. Notes on the checks often give vague and nebulous purposes for the withdraws … one word notations like "boys," or simply are left blank.

"I don’t understand that. I wouldn’t do things that way … their numbers don’t add up," Penny Eagle said.

The couple said they don’t want to insinuate anyone involved with the Quarterback Club stole money, but they were alarmed enough to disavow themselves of the group and take action.

A separate Lynn Camp Wildcat Football Booster Club, Inc.  was formed in 2009 by parents who wanted to raise money for the football program. The group obtained a license to run bingo games, but the organization was dissolved less than a year later, a victim of infighting and disagreements with Mitchell over how money should be disbursed.

The couple had two sons who attended Knox County Schools at the time, but both are now students in the Corbin Independent School System.

According to federal 990 forms, the Lynn Camp Quarterback Club had over $5.1 million in gross revenue from 2001 to 2003. The group took in $1,943,341 in 2003 alone, the biggest amount of the three years. Most of the proceeds from bingo, according to tax documents, were paid back out in prize money. The group showed about $132,000 in net profit for the three years. In 2003, returns show over $39,000 given in donations, presumably to the football program.

Mitchell, who according to records with the Kentucky Secretary of State’s Office served as President of the Lynn Camp Quarterback Club from 1997 until 2003, said the group was vital to the school’s football program for years, helping to pay for things like the installation of a new sprinkler system at the football field, clothing and equipment for players, a new mower that is still used today, Bermuda grass turf, food, etc. He has served as the head football coach at Lynn Camp for the last 33 years.

"They did a lot of good things for us. They sunk a lot of money into our program."

Mitchell said he doesn’t believe an investigation of the Quarterback Club is necessary, but admitted that he thinks the school is now better off without bingo money flowing into the football program. He said he isn’t sure how the club was run after 2003, but it is clear he had full access to money raised by the non-profit until it’s demise.

"It’s only as good as the people that was running it," he said. "It’s brought me a lot of aggravation … I had somebody pretty close to me three or four months ago wanted me to try to get it started back. I’d rather do without."

Mitchell said he believes the complaint to the Department of Charitable Gaming is the offshoot of disagreements between he and the Eagles over how money from the Lynn Camp Football Boosters was to be spent.

The Eagles say there were disagreements, but deny their complaint is fueled by a vendetta.

"We looked at it and come to the conclusion that unless it gets into somebody’s hand that can look at it and tell us exactly what has happened, it’s all just speculation," Tracy Eagle said. "I think we’ve raised awareness to what it is and we just needed to get the info to Charitable Gaming to see if they can figure it out. I want to see records that shows that money they made was actually given to the school."

For three days last week, Tracy Eagle braved scorching temperatures and torrential rain to protest outside Lynn Camp School. He held a huge sign questioning the "misappropriation" of $5.1 million. He said he was made to move off school property by school officials on the last day of his protest. He added it is unlikely he will protest any longer.

"People know about it now. It’s out there. I’m glad."

Knox County Schools Superintendent Walter T. Huelett said he was made aware of issues regarding the Quarterback Club five years ago when he first took the job. He said he had the school system’s attorney look into the situation. It was determined the school system had no liability in the matter.

"It’s an issue that comes out of something else that has nothing to do with us," he said. "I just made sure it wasn’t any school money that was involved and it wasn’t. My position is let the government or whoever do whatever they want to do."

Sparrow said the only charitable gaming license associated with Lynn Camp School is actually held now by the school system. Huelett said it is only used to sell raffle tickets and for other fundraisers, not for bingo.