There’s actually a fairly fascinating backstory to this dilapidated mansion, which hasn’t even belonged to Tyson since the late nineties (hence the decor straight out of a Scorsese mob movie).
More recently, it belonged to a businessman named Paul Monea, who got rich hawking TaeBo workout tapes with Billy Blanks. He used some of that TaeBo money to buy Tyson’s old Ohio mansion for $1.3 million.
Then things went bad for Monea. You see one of Paul’s prize possessions was this gigantic, 40-carat diamond. Eventually, Paul decided he wanted to sell both the diamond and the house. He was approached by a buyer who was very interested in both, and who had the money to do something about it, but he told Paul his money was drug money. Paul basically said to the guy, “I don’t want to know where you got your money, and what do I care if it’s rug money?” They go ahead and make the deal.
Well, almost. Turns out the man was actually an FBI agent doing what I, as a non-lawyer, believe is a textbook example of entrapment. Paul went to jail, his assets were seized, and now this mansion stands lonely and empty, seemingly haunted by the ghosts of parties past.
This tour through the house is a pretty wild ride through old-school decadence and modern decay, brought to you by the urban exploring adventurer behind
IllicitOhio.com