Mike Wing

{{Short description|American author and sports coach}} {{Infobox criminal | name = Mike Wing | image = Mike_James_Wing.jpg | caption = Mike Wing | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1959|07|01}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = author, baseball and basketball coach  | parents =  | 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 “Mike” James Wing''' (born July 1, 1959) is a former attorney, educator, and nonprofit executive. He served as executive director of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, from 1998 to 1999. His tenure ended in resignation after financial problems and controversy surrounding fundraising practices. In 2007 he was convicted in federal court of wire fraud and sentenced to prison. He has since worked intermittently in education and sports programs.

From 1992 to 1993, he served President George H. W. Bush as a White House Fellow.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-11-30 |title=Gordon College White House Fellows Project : List by Class Year |url=http://www.whitehousefellowsproject.org/whitehousefellowsproject.rice.edu/Default2568.html?id=49 |access-date=2024-10-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191130144205/http://www.whitehousefellowsproject.org/whitehousefellowsproject.rice.edu/Default2568.html?id=49 |archive-date=2019-11-30 }}</ref>

Wing is also an author. He wrote book ''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> He and his wife, Victoria Junkins, co-authored two additional books: ''The Wisdom and Insight of Matthew Henry'' and ''The Incarceration Explosion: We Must Do Better.''

Wing has three children and two stepchildren with his wife, Victoria.

== Biography ==

=== Early life === Michael Wing was raised in Tucson, Arizona. His father, James Wing, was the coach of the University of Arizona Wildcats baseball team. Michael Wing later coached USA Baseball. He played baseball in his freshman year at the University of Arizona under his dad, coach James Wing in 1977–78.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wing top student-athlete|work=Tucson Daily Citizen |location= Tucson, Arizona |page= 36 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/24503162/ |via=www.newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1979, he transferred to the University of Colorado on a baseball scholarship to finish out his remaining three years of eligibility, serving as the team captain. While at Colorado, he was selected to a U.S. collegiate all-star team that competed internationally for the World Cup. His last year of eligibility, he was asked to serve as the Head Baseball Coach at the University of Colorado while also remaining as a player. At the age of 20, he was considered one of the youngest head coaches of an NCAA Division I sport in NCAA history.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Baseball Letterwinners |url=https://cubuffs.com/sports/2017/12/3/baseball-letterwinners |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=University of Colorado Athletics |language=en}}</ref> Colorado shut down the Baseball program in 1981. In 1980, he was asked to be a player-coach for the Swedish National Baseball Team, Leksand where he led them to the 1980 European Cup championship, their first championship in 43 years.

=== Early career === Wing worked as a White House Fellow from 1992 to 1993.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gordon College List of White House Fellows |url=http://www.whitehousefellowsproject.org/whitehousefellowsproject.rice.edu/Default2568.html?id=49 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191130144205/http://www.whitehousefellowsproject.org/whitehousefellowsproject.rice.edu/Default2568.html?id=49 |archive-date=2019-11-30}}</ref> In 1993,<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> Dearborn Financial Publishing of Chicago printed his book ''Talking With Your Customers: What They Will Tell You About Your Business'', and Arthur Andersen signed on to another printing in 1997.<ref name="book" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Wing |first=Michael J |title=Talking with your customers: what they will tell you about your business when you ask the right questions. |date=1993 |publisher=Dearbon |oclc=222952607 }}</ref>

=== College sports coach === Wing served as baseball coach for 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>

=== High school coach === Wing took a job as coach at Ranier High School in 2016,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hart |first=Joshua |date=2016-04-09 |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 |language=en}}</ref> and left that job on account of a parole violation 14 months later.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Jason Leskiw |date=2017-06-21 |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 |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 where he had pledged to raise millions for a baseball complex while having 13 players on the team.<ref name="bodkin" /><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>

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 name=":0">{{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>

=== Texas 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 did not 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"/>

=== Criminal 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 loans 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"/>

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"/>

==Published works== Wing has authored these books:

* ''Talking with Your Customers: What They Will Tell You about Your Business when You Ask the Right Questions'', published by Enterprise Dearborn in 1993.<ref name="book" /> A 1997 edition included input from Arthur Andersen and added information about the internet. * ''The Incarceration Explosion: We Must Do Better'' (Hardcover – June 11, 2024), co-authored with Victoria Junkins, discusses the societal impacts of mass incarceration and offers strategies for reform. * ''The Wisdom and Insight of Matthew Henry: Helping Modern Christians Strengthen Their Walk with God'' (Kindle Edition), co-authored with Victoria

==References and notes== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wing, Mike}} Category:American business writers Category:American businesspeople convicted of crimes Category:White House Fellows Category:20th-century American criminals Category:American male criminals Category:American people convicted of fraud Category:20th-century American writers Category:American baseball coaches Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:Texas lawyers Category:U.S. Space & Rocket Center Category:1960 births Category:Living people