DES MOINES, IOWA — The Greenfield-born sports radio host who made a name for himself in Iowa as the “Mouth of the Midwest” was last week found guilty a second time of defrauding investors in a ticket-flipping scheme.
Martin J. “Marty” Tirrell, 65, was convicted by a federal jury on 11 wire fraud charges he faced, with investors’ losses totaling about $1.5 million. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Chief Judge Stephanie Rose on Oct. 16.
According to MacKenzie Tubbs, public information officer with the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Iowa, Tirrell faces up to 20 years in prison on each count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering U.S. sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
The Des Moines Register reports that during closing arguments on Thursday, prosecutor Adam Kerndt walked jurors through the transactions underlying each charge, showing messages and emails indicating the payments were intended for the purchase of tickets to Taylor Swift concerts, boxing bouts and NFL playoff games. In reality, Kerndt said, a tiny fraction of money was ever spent on tickets, with the proceeds instead covering Tirrell’s personal expenses and gambling debts. As the scheme continued, proceeds were also used to pay back earlier investors.
Defense attorney Carly Rae Scott reportedly argued that prosecutors were mischaracterizing many of the transactions, which she said were intended to be capital investments in Tirrell’s radio company. The Des Moines Register reports that Scott told the court that other intended ticket deals could have failed for other, legitimate reasons, such as changes in resale markets.
Scott also reportedly accused investigators of failing to pursue relevant information, such as interviewing other business partners or subpoenaing Tirrell’s credit card and ticket-seller accounts, which she argued could have shown his dealings in a different light.
Tirrell was sentenced to 41 months in prison in 2021 after pleading guilty to federal wire fraud charges. He admitted that he encouraged investors to give him money, purportedly to buy and resell tickets for sports and other high-profile events, but instead bilked victims out of $1.5 million. He was released from prison in 2023, and in October 2025, he was indicted for running a similar scheme.
