Schoop

The star witness in the maritime union corruption case against Harry Seidman is heading to federal prison -- despite helping prosecutors and investigators crack an elaborate kickback scheme that cost union members more than $800,000.Ronald Schoop, 60, was ordered to serve eight months behind bars yesterday for his role in the scheme, which siphoned the money from the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots in Linthicum Heights for nearly 15 years.Sending a signalU.S. District Judge Benson E. Legg said he wanted the sentence to send a signal that white-collar corruption is a serious crime, and Schoop and Seidman betrayed the trust of of the 7,000-member union that represents ship captains and deck officers around the world.

Right-hander Dylan Bundy, the Orioles' top prospect, will continue the progression in his throwing program as he returns from right forearm and elbow stiffness that has sidelined him this spring. Bundy is scheduled to do two sessions of 25 throws from 90 feet on flat ground Monday at the Orioles' spring training facility in Sarasota, Fla. Bundy hasn't appeared in a regular season game at any level this spring. Last year, Bundy was 9-3 with a 2.08 ERA in 23 starts during time at Low-A Delmarva, High-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie.

A hard drinker. A heavy gambler. A turncoat who would betray his best friend to save himself from a federal prison term.Defense lawyers for Harry Seidman -- accused of embezzling $800,000 from an international maritime union based outside Baltimore -- had some harsh words yesterday and Tuesday for the government's star witness.Attorney Mark J. Biros tried to show jurors in U.S. District Court in Baltimore that the prosecution's case against Seidman, a former financial officer for the union, rests on the unreliable word of one man: a tough-talking New Yorker named Ronald Schoop.

The Orioles' top position player prospect, Jonathan Schoop, received a second opinion his ailing lower back on Wednesday morning in California, and the organization received an optimistic prognosis. After seeing spine specialist Dr. Robert Watkins, Schoop was diagnosed with a stress fracture in the lower back and was given the recommendation of rest for four weeks, but he was told he could return within five to six weeks. “That's actually good news for me personally,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said.

The man who controlled the finances of an international maritime union for nearly 35 years was found guilty yesterday of skimming more than $800,000 in an elaborate embezzlement kick-back scheme he ran with his former friend.Jurors in U.S. District Court in Baltimore wasted little time returning their verdicts against Harry Seidman. After hearing dozens of witnesses and seeing more than 1,000 exhibits during the 2 1/2 -week trial, they took less than five hours to find Seidman guilty on all 13 embezzlement counts.

During their 20-year friendship, Ronald Schoop did plenty of favors for Harry Seidman, who held the purse strings of an international maritime union headquartered outside Baltimore.Schoop gave him a Cartier watch. He served as best man at his wedding. And when Seidman's daughter graduated from law school, Schoop paid for the party, according to court records and testimony.But the favors finally ran out yesterday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. Schoop took the stand as the government's star witness against Seidman, 64, who faces 13 embezzlement counts for allegedly skimming more than $800,000 from the union in Linthicum Heights.

The owner of a defunct Columbia printing company pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Baltimore yesterday to charges of conspiring with a maritime union official to embezzle nearly $400,000 from the union.Ronald Schoop was charged last month with Harry Seidman, former comptroller of the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots, with conspiring to embezzle union money. The charges were contained in a criminal information, rather than an indictment, suggesting that Schoop cooperated with the government.

At the maritime union's headquarters on the outskirts of Baltimore, not much was sacred.Prosecutors said in court yesterday that double-billing was rampant. So were kickbacks, gifts, trips, even visits to massage parlors. And when the union wanted to publish copies of its constitution for its 7,000 members, a kickback allegedly was part of the plan.The claims came during opening statements in the federal corruption trial of Harry Seidman, 64, former comptroller of the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots, a union that represents ship captains and deck officers in seaports in the United States and abroad.

The owner of a now-defunct printing company pleaded guilty yesterday to charges of conspiring with the former comptroller of a Baltimore-based maritime union in an embezzlement scheme that cost the union more than $376,000.Mercury Graphics Inc. owner Ronald Schoop, 60, could be sentenced to up to five years in prison and be fined $250,000 for conspiring with Harry Seidman, 64, former comptroller of the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots, to misappropriate the union money.

The former comptroller of a Baltimore-based maritime union has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy and embezzlement of $800,000 of union money.The 13-count indictment, announced yesterday by the U.S. attorney, charges that Harry Seidman, 64, former comptroller of the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots, embezzled the money by approving fraudulent invoices submitted by Ronald Schoop, owner of Mercury Graphics Inc., a now-defunct printing company.

While the Orioles' second-ranked prospect, Kevin Gausman, will be making his debut Thursday, their No. 3 prospect looks like he'll be shelved for a lengthy period of time. Infielder Jonathan Schoop has been dealing with a lower back issue, and it has been diagnosed as a potential stress fracture, Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said. “It sounds like he has a stress fracture in the low back,” Duquette said. “And he will need a period of rest, probably 6 to 8 weeks of rest.” At Schoop's request, he'll be getting a second opinion next week in California from Dr. Robert Watkins, a spine surgeon.

The Orioles' top position prospect, Jonathan Schoop, was scheduled to see back specialist Lee Riley at Johns Hopkins on Tuesday to receive further evaluation on a lower back strain that has landed him on the seven-day minor league disabled list. Schoop, rated the Orioles' No. 3 prospect by Baseball America, was hitting .268/.331/.386 with three homers and 18 RBIs for Triple-A Norfolk before he was placed on the DL on Thursday. It is believed that Schoop's back problems are rooted from continuing growth spurts the 21-year-old infielder has experienced for the past two years.

This spring's competition for the fifth spot in the Orioles' starting rotation came a little bit closer to a conclusion Saturday when the team optioned left-hander Zach Britton to Triple-A Norfolk. The team also optioned infielders Jonathan Schoop and Yamaico Navarro to Triple-A and reassigned right-hander Daniel McCutchen to minor league camp. Those moves trim the Orioles' spring roster to 40 players. In five Grapefruit League outings this spring, the 25-year-old Britton had a 6.10 ERA, allowing 13 hits and seven runs in 10 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts and four walks.

The Orioles' top position prospect, Jonathan Schoop, had been away for most of the spring while representing the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic. He finally returned Wednesday and, on Friday, he led the Orioles to a 6-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. The 21-year-old started at shortstop and had three hits in his first three at-bats, including a RBI single in the fifth and a two-run homer in the sixth against Rays starting pitcher Jeff Niemann. Steve Pearce also homered as the Orioles improved to 16-6-3 in Grapefruit League action.

SARASOTA, Fla. - Although the Orioles aren't making any proclamations about their rotation with Opening Day looming in less than two weeks, Zach Britton's chances of going north with the club seemingly took a hit Wednesday as he failed to get out of the second inning in a Grapefruit League start against the Toronto Blue Jays. The 25-year-old lefty allowed five runs on seven hits and two walks while retiring only four batters, pushing his spring ERA to 6.10 and likely damaging his standing in a battle with Jake Arrieta , Steve Johnson , Brian Matusz and others for the fifth rotation spot.

Orioles top infield prospect Jonathan Schoop returned to Ed Smith Stadium on Wednesday after playing on the world's stage as part of an upstart Netherlands team that made it to the World Baseball Classic semifinals before losing to the eventual champions, the Dominican Republic. “I was happy. We did a good job. We showed the world that we could play baseball, compete at a high level,” said Schoop, who is from the island of Curacao, a constituent country of the Netherlands.

His daughter tearfully pleaded for mercy. So did his brother.Then, with his family members sobbing in the gallery of a federal courtroom in Baltimore yesterday, Harry Seidman took the stand to say he was innocent of embezzling more than $900,000 from an international maritime union in Maryland and didn't deserve a tough prison term."

The International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots has obtained a $1.7 million insurance settlement connected to a multimillion-dollar embezzlement scheme by one of its officials.The settlement, made with National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, means that the Linthicum Heights-based union has recovered $2.8 million of the $3.6 million it says was stolen over 15 years."This settlement brings closure to a sad and painful chapter in the otherwise proud history of the MM&P," said Timothy Brown, the union's president.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- After playing a strong World Baseball Classic with the Netherlands, Orioles top position prospect Jonathan Schoop is slated to return to major league camp on Tuesday, where manager Buck Showalter said he intends to get a few more looks at the 21-year-old before optioning him to the minors. “I'd like to get him some at bats here to take a little look at him,” Showalter said Thursday. “We've gotten very few peeks at him.” Schoop, who tied for the Netherlands team lead with 2 homers and 6 RBIs in eight WBC games, initially started at second base for the Netherlands, then moves to third when Jurickson Profar joined the team.