John Spano

John Angelo Spano Jr. (born May 31, 1964) is an American businessman and convicted fraudster. He is best known for briefly buying control of the New York Islanders franchise of the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1996, before it emerged that he barely owned a fraction of the assets that he claimed to own. He deceived several banks into lending him enough money to initiate the purchase, believing he could use the fraudulently purchased team itself as an asset to get the remaining tens of millions of dollars needed to cover his fraud. He subsequently pleaded guilty to bank and wire fraud and served a federal prison sentence. Spano was convicted of 16 counts of forgery in Ohio in 2015 and served his sentence in Grafton Correctional Institution; he was released in November 2024.

Early life Spano was born in New York City but spent most of his life in Madison, Ohio, and graduated from Ashtabula St. John High School. While at St. John he was a classmate and a high school football teammate of Urban Meyer. He graduated from Duquesne University with a degree in business administration in 1986. After working several sales jobs in Pittsburgh and Dallas, he founded the Bison Group in 1990, a Dallas-based company that primarily leased aircraft. Years later, he recalled that moving in the same circles with people twice his age made him want to aim higher, and set his sights on being a sports team owner. Having frequently watched Pittsburgh Penguins games during his college days, he came to love hockey, and decided to try to buy an NHL team. Among the "laughable" excuses Spano offered were that he needed a copy of a written agreement with the team's top minor league affiliate, the Kalamazoo Wings and to have his South African partners meet with Stars officials. Lites also said that Spano insisted that Lites pick up the tab for their dinners—something Lites said he had never seen in all of his years as a sports executive. He claimed to be worth $230 million, most of which he attributed to have been inherited from his wealthy grandfather Angelo; he also claimed to own his $3 million University Park house free and clear. and forced head coach/general manager Mike Milbury to cede the head coaching position to Rick Bowness (though Milbury claimed it was his decision).

There had been some questions about Spano even before the Islanders deal came unraveled. The other NHL owners were reportedly wary of Spano well before his purchase of the team was approved. Then-New Jersey Devils owner John McMullen, for instance, told Stan Fischler (a longtime television analyst for SportsChannel New York, which owned and still owns the Islanders' TV rights under the name MSG Sportsnet) that he was unsure if Spano was even using his own money to buy the team. Fischler also learned that Spano had promised Tom Croke, the leader of an Islanders fan club, a post as his "special advisor," but had not informed anyone within the Islanders organization about it. Spano had also offered the team presidency to Potvin, who had never gotten along with Milbury and planned to fire him altogether, but negotiations collapsed after Spano apparently told Potvin that he was running out of money. Soon afterward, federal prosecutors in Boston (home to Fleet) began investigating Spano regarding the $80 million loan.

Prosecutors obtained evidence that Spano had forged numerous letters from bank officials in his business dealings from 1995 onward. After Spano bounced the $17 million check, Comerica reportedly sent a letter to Pickett's attorneys saying he had funds to cover the overdraft. However, the executive who purportedly signed it denied ever writing it. and was sentenced to 10 years prison on June 17, 2015. He was also ordered to pay more than $75,000 in restitution to Image First. After serving his sentence, he was released in November 2024.

Legacy The Spano fiasco was highly embarrassing to the NHL, which was still reeling from revelations that former NHLPA head Alan Eagleson had lied to his clients and enriched himself by skimming off the union's pension fund. The NHL was particularly shaken after it was revealed that it spent well under $1,000 evaluating Spano's credentials (estimates range from $525

After several attempts at interviews and possible documentaries, an ESPN 30 for 30 film, Big Shot, directed by actor and Long Island native Kevin Connolly, related John Spano's time as prospective owner of the New York Islanders and Spano himself appeared in the film to explain his actions. Spano said he was able to get in a position to be able to buy the Islanders by having access to "credit facilities" he normally wouldn't have been able to access. While the Islanders deal was being hammered out, he said, he went to great lengths to keep his accountants, lawyers, and NHL officials from communicating with each other, saying they would have "realized something wasn't right" if they ever talked to each other. He also said that as time went on, he grew increasingly nervous about the excuses he would have to offer in order to buy more time. The film subsequently premiered on television in October 2013.