A former sports radio figure from Iowa, once dubbed “the Mouth of the Midwest,” has been found guilty of deceiving investors in a fraudulent ticket-reselling operation. This conviction comes five years after he received a 41-month prison sentence for orchestrating a similar scam.
A federal jury in Des Moines determined that Marty Tirrell, 65, was guilty on July 16 of 11 counts of wire fraud over a four-day trial. The fraudulent activities led to losses exceeding $1.5 million for four investors, although prosecutors noted that several million dollars moved through Tirrell’s hands.
Instead of investing the funds as promised, Tirrell misappropriated substantial amounts for personal expenses and gambling, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.
Profile of a ‘Colorful’ Host
Prior to his legal troubles, Tirrell was recognized as a vibrant and polarizing personality in the sports broadcasting scene in Iowa.
After his move to Des Moines in 1995, he co-hosted the influential Marty & Miller show and later presented sports content across various media platforms, including radio and television.
During this latest fraudulent operation, which spanned from February 2024 to January 2025, Tirrell was running sports programming via his production company, Tea Room Broadcasting.
Tirrell convinced investors to provide funds purportedly to acquire blocks of tickets for high-demand events, such as Taylor Swift concerts, the U.S. Open, Indiana Fever games, and playoff games for professional football and baseball.
He promised to resell the tickets at inflated prices, return the investors’ original investments, and share the profits. However, prosecutors successfully demonstrated that Tirrell diverted the majority of the funds and utilized money from new investors to pay off older ones, creating a Ponzi-like structure.
History Repeats
This latest scheme mirrors the one that previously landed Tirrell behind bars in 2021, showing striking similarities in the amount of financial loss involved.
In a 2019 indictment, it was alleged that Tirrell’s earlier operation cheated eight investors out of around $1.5 million. Prosecutors indicated that he attracted investors by portraying himself as a sports insider, occasionally offering free tickets or VIP experiences to gain their trust.
He claimed he could buy discounted tickets, resell them, and share the proceeds with investors. Instead, Tirrell utilized their funds for online betting, unauthorized expenses, and compensating other investors.
Facing dwindling new investment, Tirrell reportedly resorted to check-kiting, stealing credit cards, and submitting fake claims to banks to sustain his operations. He entered a guilty plea on mail fraud charges in December 2019 and was sentenced in January 2021.
Questionable History
Worries regarding Tirrell’s financial conduct emerged long before his first federal conviction. As early as 1997, businesses that opted to invest in him lost money on tickets for the Mike Tyson–Evander Holyfield fight that never happened, alongside other nonexistent Super Bowl travel packages, as uncovered in a 2019 investigation by the Des Moines Register.
By 2019, it was reported that civil judgments totaling around $2 million were made against Tirrell in central Iowa, excluding bankruptcy cases and settlements reached outside of court.
Tirrell was released from prison in January 2023, and approximately 13 months later, he began his latest fraudulent scheme while still under a three-year federal supervised release term.
Unlike his prior conviction, which ended with a guilty plea, Tirrell opted for a trial in this case. He awaits sentencing and faces a potential maximum sentence of 20 years for each count.