12. Hill published his story about the Boston College Point Shaving scheme in early 1981
In February 1981, Sports Illustrated published the story of the Boston College points shaving plan, under the byline, “By Henry Hill with Douglas S. Looney”. The story caused a national sensation, and was covered by nearly every major news outlet extensively. It also caused outrage among the federal authorities, who had not yet issued indictments for the individuals. Effectively, it exposed their entire case before they were ready to pursue it. During the same time Henry Hill told the authorities of the scheme, he informed Looney of the same. Since Hill provided the story without consulting his federal handlers, he violated his agreement with them. Though he was threatened with removal from WITSEC, in the end, the threats were not carried out. His information provided just too much evidence against the mobsters for the authorities to close him out.
Almost unbelievably for a man in hiding, Hill provided some information regarding his existence in WITSEC. Gregg Hill reported in his book that the Sports Illustrated article included a picture of his father. A page-by-page review of the issue (February 16, 1981), reveals no such image in the magazine. In On the Run Gregg described a scene with his father subsequent to the publication of the article. His reaction to seeing his father’s photograph in a national magazine is a significant part of the scene. But no such photograph existed, rendering the entire depiction in the book, and subsequently the entire book, less than credible. Despite the inaccuracies described by Gregg, Henry Hill did publish the story, and earned a significant rebuke from the US Attorney’s and the FBI. Nonetheless, he continued to remain in WITSEC, despite the growing problem of his keeping a low profile.