Mike Wing: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia


Article Images

Line 1:

{{Cleanup|date=October 2023|reason=Substantial changes made and lacking references}}

{{Short description|Author, sports coach, convicted of wire fraud}}

{{Infobox criminal

| name = Mike Wing

| image =
| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date |62 |2022|04|06}}▼

| caption = ▼

| birth_place =

▲| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date |62 |2022|04|06}}

| birth_place death_date =

| death_date death_place =

| occupation = author, baseball and basketball coach, corporate CEO, lawyer, teacher, professor▼

| death_place =

<!-- | spouse = Pam Wing (neé Constantz)<ref name="letu"/> (m. c. 1981 &ndash; div. c. 2010)<ref name="azins">{{Cite report |title=State of Arizona Department of Insurance, Wing, Michael James, Petitioner, No. 15A-016-INS Order |date=2015-05-04}}</ref> -->| parents = <!-- | children = Lindsay Wing Logan ({{birth date and age|1982|01|21}})<ref>{{Cite web |title=USA Gymnastics Official Biography: Lindsay Wing |url=https://usagym.org/pages/athletes/archivedbios/w/lwing.html |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=usagym.org}}</ref>, Jacque Wing (c.1984&ndash;), Brody Wing<ref name="letu"/> (c.1988 &ndash; )<ref name="azins"/> -->▼

▲| occupation = author, baseball and basketball coach, corporate CEO, lawyer, teacher, professor

▲| caption parents =

▲<!-- | spouse = Pam Wing (neé Constantz)<ref name="letu"/> (m. c. 1981 &ndash; div. c. 2010)<ref name="azins">{{Cite report |title=State of Arizona Department of Insurance, Wing, Michael James, Petitioner, No. 15A-016-INS Order |date=2015-05-04}}</ref> -->| parents = <!-- | children = Lindsay Wing Logan ({{birth date and age|1982|01|21}})<ref>{{Cite web |title=USA Gymnastics Official Biography: Lindsay Wing |url=https://usagym.org/pages/athletes/archivedbios/w/lwing.html |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=usagym.org}}</ref>, Jacque Wing (c.1984&ndash;), Brody Wing<ref name="letu"/> (c.1988 &ndash; )<ref name="azins"/> -->

<!-- | children = Lindsay Wing Logan ({{birth date and age|1982|01|21}})<ref>{{Cite web |title=USA Gymnastics Official Biography: Lindsay Wing |url=https://usagym.org/pages/athletes/archivedbios/w/lwing.html |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=usagym.org}}</ref>, Jacque Wing (c.1984&ndash;), Brody Wing<ref name="letu"/> (c.1988 &ndash; )<ref name="azins"/> -->

| conviction =

| conviction = [[wire fraud]]<ref name="conviction">{{Cite web |date=2012-01-15 |title=EDTX_WING083007-Wire Fraud |url=http://www.justice.gov/usao/txe/News/2007/EDTX_WING083007.html |access-date=2022-04-06 |website=U.S. Justice Department|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115124928/http://www.justice.gov/usao/txe/News/2007/EDTX_WING083007.html |archive-date=2012-01-15 }},</ref><ref name="txbar"/> [[parole violation]]

}}

'''Michael James Wing''' (born 1960), commonly "Mike Wing", is an American author of ''Talking With Your Customers: What They Will Tell You About Your Business'',<ref name="book">{{Cite web |title=Talking with Your Customers: What They Will Tell You about Your Business when You Ask the Right Questions Michael J. Wing - Google Search |url=https://www.google.com/search?kgmid=/g/11bydbnry0&hl=en-US&q=Talking+with+Your+Customers:+What+They+Will+Tell+You+about+Your+Business+when+You+Ask+the+Right+Questions+Michael+J.+Wing |access-date=2022-04-12 |website= google.com}}</ref> convicted of wire fraud and implicated in other scandals, and a sports coach.<ref name="txbar"/>

'''Michael James Wing''' (born 1959), commonly "Mike Wing", is a graduate of the University of Colorado, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in international affairs.  Since earning his undergraduate degree, he earned his law degree and 15 additional graduate degrees that include an MBA, a Master’s in Coaching, a Master’s in Public Policy, numerous master’s degrees in teaching and school administration, and many others.{{dubious|reason=16 graduate degrees?|date=October 2023}}

== Biography ==

=== Early career ===

HeWing wasworked namedas a recipientWhite ofHouse theFellow prestigiousfrom White1992 Houseto Fellows1993 programduring byhis Presidenttime Georgeat [[Gordon College (Massachusetts)|Gordon H.WCollege]].<ref Bushname="bodkin"/><ref>{{Cite andweb served|title=Gordon inCollege thatList capacityof underWhite bothHouse PresidentFellows Bush|url=http://www.whitehousefellowsproject.org/whitehousefellowsproject.rice.edu/Default2568.html?id=49 and|url-status=dead President|archive-url= Clintonhttps://web.archive.org/web/20191130144205/http://www.whitehousefellowsproject.{{citationorg/whitehousefellowsproject.rice.edu/Default2568.html?id=49 needed|archive-date=October 20232019-11-30}}</ref> In 1993, [[Dearborn Financial Publishing]] of Chicago printed his best seller book, ''Talking With Your Customers: What They Will Tell You About Your Business'', and Wing and [[Arthur Andersen]] Businesssigned Consultingon publishedto aanother second editionprinting in 1997.<ref name="book">{{Cite web |title=Talking with Your Customers: What They Will Tell You about Your Business when You Ask the Right Questions Michael J. Wing - Google Search |url=https://www.google.com/search?kgmid=/g/11bydbnry0&hl=en-US&q=Talking+with+Your+Customers:+What+They+Will+Tell+You+about+Your+Business+when+You+Ask+the+Right+Questions+Michael+J.+Wing |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=google.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Wing |first=Michael J |date=1993 |title=Talking with your customers: what they will tell you about your business when you ask the right questions. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/222952607 |access-date=2022-05-16 |publisher=Dearbon |oclc=222952607}}</ref>

[[File:Saturn V model 2019.jpg|thumb|Wing cast a shadow of debt over the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, and erected a unique landmark.]]

=== U.S. Space and Rocket Center ===

Wing served as executive director of the [[U.S. Space and Rocket Center]] from 1998 to 1999, where he plunged the center into debt.<ref name="waff">{{Cite web |title=Mike Wing, former CEO of Space and Rocket Center, arrested |url=http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=4766836 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319035135/http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=4766836 |archive-date=2012-03-19 |access-date=October 2, 2011 |publisher=WAFF TV}}</ref> Wing oversaw construction of a full-scale vertical Saturn V replica to be finished at by the 30th anniversary of the [[Apollo 11]] moon landing, July 1999. It serves as a towering landmark in Huntsville, and cost the center $8.6 million of borrowed money. The ''Huntsville Times'' estimated interest costs at $10 million. Wing also sought to create a program for [[fifth grade]] students in Alabama and elsewhere to attend Space Camp at no cost to them. Anonymous corporate pledges that Wing promised would fund the $800 per student never arrived. Wing prolonged the Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission's investigation into the pledges by writing bogus personal checks and having the center record them as received. The program ultimately cost the center $7.5 million. Wing was pressured to resign, and several members of the governing Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission were ousted from that board as a result of the debacle.<ref name="Tuscaloosa">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=90ogAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WKYEAAAAIBAJ&dq=mike-wing&pg=6905%2C5593713 |title=Saturn V Replica Not Paid For Yet |work=Tuscaloosa News |date=July 17, 2001 |agency=AP |access-date=October 2, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hDwdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LqYEAAAAIBAJ&dq=mike-wing&pg=3058%2C2996528 |title=Audit Sparks Probe of Center Spending |work=Tuscaloosa News |date=May 14, 2001 |agency=AP |access-date=October 2, 2011 |location=Montgomery, AL}}</ref> At the end of Wing's term as director, the center was $26 million in debt.<ref name="moreLayoffs">{{cite web |url=http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/09/us_space_and_rocket_center_lay.html |title=U.S. Space and Rocket Center lays off 5, cuts 7 to part-time to save $500,000 (updated) |publisher=Huntsville Times |date=September 30, 2011 |access-date=October 2, 2011 |author=Haskins, Shelly}}</ref><ref name="tackle">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ByUdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZaYEAAAAIBAJ&dq=wing%20space%20camp%20fifth%20graders&pg=4513%2C1883747 |title=New CEO Ready to Tackle Space Camp's Problems |work=Tuscaloosa News |date=February 11, 2000 |agency=AP |access-date=October 4, 2011 |location=Huntsville}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2MEfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gdgEAAAAIBAJ&dq=wing%20space%20camp%20fifth%20graders%20anonymous&pg=6262%2C2735916 |title=St. Clair Fifth-Graders get Free Space Camp |work=Gadsden Times |date=June 24, 1999 |access-date=October 4, 2011 |author=Lowry, Suzy |location=Asheville}}</ref> The state sued Wing for $7.5 million over the Space Camp fraud. They settled for $500,000.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://tdn.com/news/school-board-approves-hiring-of-baseball-coach-mike-wing/article_7329d165-e3d0-557d-821b-c6b951fb6ee9.html |title=School board approves hiring of baseball coach Mike Wing |last=Hart |first=Joshua |date=April 11, 2016 |work=Longview Daily News |access-date=2018-01-19}}</ref>

Wing served as executive director of the [[U.S. Space and Rocket Center]] from 1998 to 1999 under which time the center saw record growth.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}} He implemented the highly regarded 5th grade program which provided students a week long contextualized learning experience in which science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) became real and relevant to them in an impactful way. Wing oversaw design and construction of a full-scale 43-story vertical Saturn V replica for the 30th anniversary of the [[Apollo 11]] Moon landing by [[Neil Armstrong]] and [[Buzz Aldrin]]. It serves as a towering landmark in Huntsville, Alabama.

=== BusinessmanTexas attorney ===

Wing's next position was as an attorney in Tyler, Texas.<ref name="plain"/> He was licensed to practice in Texas from September 2000 until his resignation from the bar in February 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael James Wing |url=https://www.texasbar.com/Template.cfm?Section=Member_Directory&template=/Customsource/MemberDirectory/MemberDirectoryDetail.cfm&ContactID=203647 |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=www.texasbar.com |publisher=State Bar of Texas}}</ref><ref name="txbar">{{Cite journal |date=2008-04-01 |orig-date=April 2008 |title=Disciplinary Actions |url=https://www.law.uh.edu/libraries/ethics/attydiscipline/2008/04da2008.pdf |journal=Texas Bar Journal |volume=71 |issue=4 |page=321}}</ref> Leveraging his position as attorney and the skill and trust afforded because of same, Wing offered to his victims that they could invest in bridge loans that didn't exist. Instead of a bridge loan, he used the monies from those accounts and others to pay off prior "investors" and for his own purposes. Wing resigned from the [[State Bar of Texas]] after pleading guilty to wire fraud.<ref name="txbar"/>

Wing has an extensive career in management, having successfully served as a President/CEO of eleven companies over the course of his career.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}} He was also a senior manager with Arthur Andersen Business Consulting.

=== AttorneyCollege sports coach ===

Wing served as baseball coach for [[LeTourneau University|LeTourneau Athletics]] from 2002 to 2003 while the team posted 35 wins to 47 losses.<ref name="letu">{{Cite web |title=Mike Wing - Baseball Coach |url=https://letuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/mike-wing/188 |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=LeTourneau University Athletics |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Baseball Coaching Records |url=https://letuathletics.com/sports/2020/7/17/coaching-records.aspx |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=LeTourneau University Athletics |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Niesse |first=Mark |date=2002-03-24 |title=Debt, Low Attendance Weigh Down Space Camp |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/03/24/debt-low-attendance-weigh-down-space-camp/dc2c8757-8a9e-485d-9184-4baefe44f821/ |access-date=2022-04-21 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US}}</ref>

He has had a successful legal career as a business attorney and senior partner in a nationally renowned firm focusing on large mergers and acquisitions.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

=== BaseballCriminal proceedings ===

Wing was arrested on April 12, 2006, and charged with 18 counts of wire fraud underlying a scheme to defraud investors by offering high returns on investments for [[bridge loan]]s among companies which he declined to name citing [[insider trading]] rules. He pleaded guilty to at least one count of wire fraud and was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, 3 years of probation, and $9.2 million (${{Inflation|US|9.171262|2008|r=2}} million in current dollars) in restitution. He was released from prison on probation in 2014.<ref name="plain">{{Cite web |date=2006-04-13 |title=Former CEO of Alabama facility accused of fraud in Texas |url=https://www.myplainview.com/news/article/Former-CEO-of-Alabama-facility-accused-of-fraud-8639359.php |access-date=2022-04-22 |website=Plainview Herald |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="bodkin"/><ref name="txbar"/>

Coach Wing has experienced playing and coaching baseball at the highest levels, having played Division I baseball at the University of Arizona and the University of Colorado and was named to several national collegiate all-star teams over the course of his playing career. He has been a head baseball coach at the international level and he won the European Cup.  He has been a successful collegiate and high school coach, having won several championships, and he has received numerous Coach of the Year awards. {{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

In 2017, Wing was sentenced to 6 months in prison for a parole violation brought on by taking out loans without informing parole officers.<ref name="bodkin"/>

'''<big>Teacher</big>'''

=== High school coach ===

Wing has been a successful college professor having been named "Professor of the Year". Concerned about the next generation, Wing has taught in an inner-city high school and middle school. He has been named Teacher of the Year.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

Wing took a job as coach at [[Ranier High School]] in 2016,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hart |first=Joshua |title=The case for Coach Wing |url=https://tdn.com/news/local/the-case-for-coach-wing/article_846f6d06-6265-5935-8539-4b14f1b3e44c.html |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=Longview Daily News |date=2016-04-09 |language=en}}</ref> and left that job on account of a parole violation 14 months later.<ref>{{Cite web |last=jason.leskiw@tdn.com |first=Jason Leskiw |title=Rainier coach Mike Wing sentenced to 6 months for parole violation |url=https://tdn.com/news/rainier-coach-mike-wing-sentenced-to-6-months-for-parole-violation/article_52c60244-048d-5ccf-bd39-86386af73afd.html |access-date=2022-04-21 |date=2017-06-21 |website=Longview Daily News |language=en}}</ref>

In 2019, Wing took a position as and then resigned as coach from coaching baseball at remote rural Idaho [[West Jefferson High School (Idaho)|West Jefferson High School]] where he had pledged to raise millions for a baseball complex while having 13 players on the team.<ref name="bodkin">{{Cite web |last=Bodkin |first=Devin |date=2019-06-07 |title=Coach with criminal past proposes multimillion-dollar athletic complex |url=https://www.idahoednews.org/news/coach-with-criminal-past-proposes-multimillion-dollar-athletic-complex/ |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=Idaho Education News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bodkin |first=Devin |date=2019-10-03 |title=Former convict resigns as West Jefferson baseball coach |url=https://www.idahoednews.org/news/former-convict-resigns-as-west-jefferson-baseball-coach/ |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=Idaho Education News |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Criminal proceedings ===

in 2006, Wing faced a “white collar” criminal charge of wire fraud.  He has vigorously contended and proclaimed his innocence of any criminal act of wire fraud ever since being charged.  However, to control the downside exposure of a trial verdict going against him given the complexity of the financial transactions involved, a plea agreement for a single count was entered into.  Thus, in spite of his protestations to the contrary, he is officially “guilty” because of the plea.  As an attorney, he found the entire experience to be surreal especially after meeting with authorities in Washington and Houston who quickly concluded after reviewing the facts of the case that there was absolutely no criminal wrongdoing on his part or the firm whatsoever.{{POV|date=October 2023}}  The case ended up being brought in the small town of Tyler, Texas in which he had no clients or businesses other than his ranching interests. In 2014, Wing had a probation violation springing from his attempt to help a terminally ill person with young children that probation officials found to be outside the scope of his probation agreement.

==Published works==