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Why is this a federal case? (The NCAA Basketball investigation)

J

jberesford

HB All-American
Dec 1, 2001
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Curious question, I haven't read an article yet that clearly gives them jurisdiction. Don't get me wrong, I'm on board for anything this deal can do to hammer illicit programs, but since this broke yesterday I'm still wondering how any of these federal charges are so 'criminal' in nature. Anyone got any good articles that break this down? Please post it here. Sorry if I missed it if this in the other threads, but I do think that the federal involvement to this point and in what capacity is... well... pretty relevant to the discussion.

Sorry in advance for those that whine about another thread on the same topic, but I think this is pretty important, and I haven't read anything yet that lays this out, other than simply involving a public university... If anyone comes across a fact-worthy story, please post it here.
 
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I heard them say on TV that the NCAA can not pursue criminal investigations. Some of the Fab Five were accused of taking money and think Rose even admitted to it but they don't pursue the situation. I'm thinking the head coaches my not be aware since they make enough money. Assistant coaches make very little in comparison to head coaches and they may think they are entitled.

One of the posts here told how some time ago Pitino had the biggest surprise when apparently quite unexpectedly a top 5 recruit landed in his lap. I don't think a person would say that if he knew how the player was secured.
 
From another thread, and I'm sure there are federal tax implications because these guys weren't declaring any of this money:

Lamont Evans, the Cowboys' associate head coach and recruiting coordinator, was one of four assistant coaches charged by the feds. He faces six counts that include everything from solicitation of bribes and gratuities to conspiracy to commit bribery.

Court documents allege Evans took at least $22,000 in exchange for steering players to certain financial advisers who hoped to represent and retain the players once they turned pro.

According to the FBI, Evans and others mostly did so blindly.

"Most of the coaches never asked the adviser a single question about his qualifications, his track record," Joon H. Kim, acting United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said during a Tuesday news conference about the federal charges. "A simple Google search by the coaches of the adviser's name would have revealed that the SEC had brought securities fraud charges against him just last year, including for misusing his professional athlete client's money."

So, Evans allegedly was lining his pockets with no regard to what might happen to his players' future earnings.

THE FULL STORY: http://newsok.com/osu-associate-hea...ated-in-federal-bribery-probe/article/5565676
 
Tax implications. Let's not forget that all public Universities get federal aid money. Most States have laws on the books regarding agents/ amatuer athletics. Once a guy does dirty deeds in multiple states, the feds have him on racketeering charges.
I'm not a criminal law expert by any means, so these are just guesses.
 
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You gotta wonder if, for example, Fran and the University of Iowa spend $10,000 in travel/recruiting expenses to recruit a kid over a period of time, only to have another program bribe said kid for a commitment, if that isn't some sort of crime.
 
The reason why it is a federal criminal case is that there are federal statutes which prohibit an employee of an institution which receives federal funds from soliciting or accepting bribes.

Also, if funds are transferred by wire to make these bribes, then the federal statute which criminalizes wire fraud has been violated.
 
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OP and many others that have questions. Read the original FBI statement and then Google the charges to read the definition of each charge. It's that simple.
 
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jdv77 said:
The reason why it is a federal criminal case is that there are federal statutes which prohibit an employee of an institution which receives federal funds from soliciting or accepting bribes.

Also, if funds are transferred by wire to make these bribes, then the federal statute which criminalizes wire fraud has been violated.
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Bingo, we have a winner.
 
ScoutRefugee said:
You gotta wonder if, for example, Fran and the University of Iowa spend $10,000 in travel/recruiting expenses to recruit a kid over a period of time, only to have another program bribe said kid for a commitment, if that isn't some sort of crime.
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Clearly, the only fair resolution is that those two 5 stars that just left Louisville have to come to Iowa.
 
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jdv77 said:
The reason why it is a federal criminal case is that there are federal statutes which prohibit an employee of an institution which receives federal funds from soliciting or accepting bribes.

Also, if funds are transferred by wire to make these bribes, then the federal statute which criminalizes wire fraud has been violated.
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I'm all in favor of punishing this from an NCAA perspective and bringing these issues to light, but to call these "bribes" is a stretch IMHO. These players have a market value which they aren't able to capitalize on within the NCAA rules. Feels like FBI doing the NCAA's bidding. Get them for tax evasion for not declaring the money - ok even though it's just because they couldn't declare it without getting in trouble. I just don't see the case to pursue these as 80 years in jail crimes like they're threatening. I get it, they have to pressure to get guys to rollover and expose the whole scheme, but I lean more towards this being the fault of a bogus system than these guys being true criminals in terms of the law.
 
d_i said:
I'm all in favor of punishing this from an NCAA perspective and bringing these issues to light, but to call these "bribes" is a stretch IMHO. These players have a market value which they aren't able to capitalize on within the NCAA rules. Feels like FBI doing the NCAA's bidding. Get them for tax evasion for not declaring the money - ok even though it's just because they couldn't declare it without getting in trouble. I just don't see the case to pursue these as 80 years in jail crimes like they're threatening. I get it, they have to pressure to get guys to rollover and expose the whole scheme, but I lean more towards this being the fault of a bogus system than these guys being true criminals in terms of the law.
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its not a stretch as Bribery is a Federal Crime, that exactly what happened in these cases. these will result in PRISON terms.
 
d_i said:
I'm all in favor of punishing this from an NCAA perspective and bringing these issues to light, but to call these "bribes" is a stretch IMHO. These players have a market value which they aren't able to capitalize on within the NCAA rules. Feels like FBI doing the NCAA's bidding. Get them for tax evasion for not declaring the money - ok even though it's just because they couldn't declare it without getting in trouble. I just don't see the case to pursue these as 80 years in jail crimes like they're threatening. I get it, they have to pressure to get guys to rollover and expose the whole scheme, but I lean more towards this being the fault of a bogus system than these guys being true criminals in terms of the law.
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What the assistant coaches, Adidas, and the other people involved were doing is bribery. They were handing out money to steer players or recruits to a particular "financial planner", shoe company, or school.

The kids involved have not been indicted. If they receive money, it may not be bribery, but they are no longer amateur athletes.
 
nitewing said:
its not a stretch as Bribery is a Federal Crime, that exactly what happened in these cases. these will result in PRISON terms.
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I'm not saying it won't result in prison terms - they're clearly trying to make that case, I'm taking issue with the interpretation that these were bribes per se. It really depends on your interpretation of what a bribe is. This is the first definition that pops up on google from Merriam Webster: "money or favor given or promised in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust". I wouldn't say these payments to kids fit that definition. They are looking to play basketball somewhere. There is demand for their services above what NCAA rules allow. If someone breaks those NCAA rules to compensate a player, who is losing? Iowa (hopefully) and other schools that operate within the NCAA rules? Ok, but why is that a federal crime and not an NCAA issue?
 
d_i said:
I'm not saying it won't result in prison terms - they're clearly trying to make that case, I'm taking issue with the interpretation that these were bribes per se. It really depends on your interpretation of what a bribe is. This is the first definition that pops up on google from Merriam Webster: "money or favor given or promised in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust". I wouldn't say these payments to kids fit that definition. They are looking to play basketball somewhere. There is demand for their services above what NCAA rules allow. If someone breaks those NCAA rules to compensate a player, who is losing? Iowa (hopefully) and other schools that operate within the NCAA rules? Ok, but why is that a federal crime and not an NCAA issue?
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But that's not what people are being arrested for and the kids/their families aren't being arrested. This isn't a case where kids or their families are being paid to attend Louisville, Arizona, etc. It's a case that coaches are being paid to get those kids to sign with Adidas or agents or "financial planners" when they are in position to do so. That is exactly what you quoted as the definition of a bribe.

If kids or their families accepted payments they likely will not be charged or arrested, just disqualified by the NCAA.
 
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ScoutRefugee said:
No. Those players won't ever be eligible to play for an NCAA team.
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Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think the two that decommitted a couple days ago are the ones mentioned in any of this FBI investigation. They could in the future but for now they've just re-opened their recruitment.
 
afsocker said:
But that's not what people are being arrested for and the kids/their families aren't being arrested. This isn't a case where kids or their families are being paid to attend Louisville, Arizona, etc. It's a case that coaches are being paid to get those kids to sign with Adidas or agents or "financial planners" when they are in position to do so. That is exactly what you quoted as the definition of a bribe.

If kids or their families accepted payments they likely will not be charged or arrested, just disqualified by the NCAA.
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Fair enough. I guess I was focusing on the $100k pmt mentioned being considered the "bribe" in question rather than the other parts.
 
hawx said:
Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think the two that decommitted a couple days ago are the ones mentioned in any of this FBI investigation. They could in the future but for now they've just re-opened their recruitment.
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You may be right. I thought you were talking about the players involved. Sorry.
 
d_i said:
I'm all in favor of punishing this from an NCAA perspective and bringing these issues to light, but to call these "bribes" is a stretch IMHO. These players have a market value which they aren't able to capitalize on within the NCAA rules. Feels like FBI doing the NCAA's bidding. Get them for tax evasion for not declaring the money - ok even though it's just because they couldn't declare it without getting in trouble. I just don't see the case to pursue these as 80 years in jail crimes like they're threatening. I get it, they have to pressure to get guys to rollover and expose the whole scheme, but I lean more towards this being the fault of a bogus system than these guys being true criminals in terms of the law.
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Any of these playesr are free to pursue any profession they want. No one is stopping them.

There are professional basketball leauges that will accept them if they are good enough.

Their market value is whatever those teams are willing to pay.

The nba chooses to set their value for that leauge at zero until a certain age is reached.

No one forces them to take the avenue of college.
 
jwardelt said:
Some are facing decades in prison. No big deal. I think they'll enjoy that time behind bars. They'll flip. This is just getting started.
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"While technically some of the defendants are facing up to 80 years for fraud, committing bribery through a federally funded educational program (in this case a basketball program at a school that receives more than $10,000 in federal funds), money laundering and violation of the Travel Act, Mordock said there is virtually no chance a sentence like that is possible.

“Amount of loss controls almost everything in fraud cases and compared to what these judges see on a day in, day out basis, it is the equivalent of a ticket for driving 75 in a 55,” Mordock said. “And since these are part of a common scheme, they would almost certainly be sentenced concurring as well.”

For some, or even all the defendants, that could mean a maximum of 27 to 33 months in prison, Mordock said. Even if found guilty, a judge is far more likely to hand down, at most, six months prison time, which could be turned into just probation."
 
What’s wrong with doing away with the one and done that currently creates all kinds of pressure on coaches and young kids. If players were required to graduate from college or at least be in college 3 yrs similar to football a lot of the problems might be eliminated. Could lead to more parity because there would not be turnover of players in the same schools every year and the same elite colleges would not be fighting for the same kids. Not sure of the numbers of one and done kids who actually make the NBA rosters but I am sure not all of them do.
 
carrierhawk said:
What’s wrong with doing away with the one and done that currently creates all kinds of pressure on coaches and young kids. If players were required to graduate from college or at least be in college 3 yrs similar to football a lot of the problems might be eliminated. Could lead to more parity because there would not be turnover of players in the same schools every year and the same elite colleges would not be fighting for the same kids. Not sure of the numbers of one and done kids who actually make the NBA rosters but I am sure not all of them do.
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While I agree with your premise, it's not an NCAA rule, it's an NBA rule. The NBA is doing what they think is best for their organization. To change, they need to be made to view the "go straight to the NBA or stay for x years in college" option as better for the league.
 
d_i said:
I'm not saying it won't result in prison terms - they're clearly trying to make that case, I'm taking issue with the interpretation that these were bribes per se. It really depends on your interpretation of what a bribe is. This is the first definition that pops up on google from Merriam Webster: "money or favor given or promised in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust". I wouldn't say these payments to kids fit that definition. They are looking to play basketball somewhere. There is demand for their services above what NCAA rules allow. If someone breaks those NCAA rules to compensate a player, who is losing? Iowa (hopefully) and other schools that operate within the NCAA rules? Ok, but why is that a federal crime and not an NCAA issue?
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I see what you are saying, but by this standard is bribery ever illegal? If I'm a business developer and i pay-off council people in the town where I want my project approved, isn't that just compensating people for a service they can provide (in this case, approval for my project). The payments to the players are the definition of a bribe, in that they are influence the judgement or conduct of a person in trust (a player or their family). The money is to get the player to the right school (which benefits the shoe company) and eventually to the right agent, and to sign an endorsement deal with that shoe company. And as far as the tax evasion issue, that's the whole point. People are charged with tax evasion because either they obtained the money illegally and don't want that known, or they did acquire it legally but don't want to pay taxes on it. Either way, it's tax evasion. It doesn't really matter if the money was obtained illegally or not.
 
SSG T said:
While I agree with your premise, it's not an NCAA rule, it's an NBA rule. The NBA is doing what they think is best for their organization. To change, they need to be made to view the "go straight to the NBA or stay for x years in college" option as better for the league.
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I think a great solution would be a rule where they either have to go D leauge 2 years or college 2 years.

The nba wants to prevent spending large amounts of money on highschool players who never amount to anything.

This way the players desperate for money have an option and it would make the d leauge more interesting and profitable.
 
HawkAttackDial911 said:
"While technically some of the defendants are facing up to 80 years for fraud, committing bribery through a federally funded educational program (in this case a basketball program at a school that receives more than $10,000 in federal funds), money laundering and violation of the Travel Act, Mordock said there is virtually no chance a sentence like that is possible.

“Amount of loss controls almost everything in fraud cases and compared to what these judges see on a day in, day out basis, it is the equivalent of a ticket for driving 75 in a 55,” Mordock said. “And since these are part of a common scheme, they would almost certainly be sentenced concurring as well.”

For some, or even all the defendants, that could mean a maximum of 27 to 33 months in prison, Mordock said. Even if found guilty, a judge is far more likely to hand down, at most, six months prison time, which could be turned into just probation."
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Thats basically what Jay Bilas said on Mike& Mike as well. People are sensationalizing these possible punishments, but no one is going to do anywhere near that kind of time. Still a year or two in federal prison would change your life......:eek:
 
kceasthawk said:
Thats basically what Jay Bilas said on Mike& Mike as well. People are sensationalizing these possible punishments, but no one is going to do anywhere near that kind of time. Still a year or two in federal prison would change your life......:eek:
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This depends on a lot of things. Now I don't believe anybody is going to draw a ten year sentence. But the right judge who is peeved at the whole crud might make things as bad as possible. Yes, this isn't like many of the cases (money wise) that a judge sees all the time...but it does involve a lot of people.

I tend to believe what happens is these coaches rat out anybody over fear of maybe five years? Their careers are over. And for those who don't get caught hopefully the fear that this could happen again keeps things clean for awhile.

I just continue to be so glad that on Monday Rick Pitino was one of the problems with College Basketball, and I doubt he ever will be again. Maybe some others like him...hopefully.
 
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If money was given to a third party, family member, do they get to keep the money if the coaches are found guilty
 
sbhawk64 said:
If money was given to a third party, family member, do they get to keep the money if the coaches are found guilty
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The thing that might keep the greedy families from accepting bribes is if a player is found guilty he can no longer play pro ball. That might get their attention and cause them to say thanks but no thanks to anyone trying to corrupt the system.
 
"There's almost no white collar crime, no economic activity that doesn't use interstate commerce and therefore can't be investigated by the federal government. The federal government just decides what matters they want to pursue and what matters they don't want to pursue."

In this particular case, Person and the other coaches are alleged to have defrauded the universities for which they work by denying the schools of their "intangible rights" to those coaches' honest services due to the undisclosed kickbacks and bribes they received from financial advisers.

The travel act conspiracy leveled against Person is because he allegedly partook in these illegal activities while crossing state lines. According to the complaint filed against him, one meeting with the FBI's cooperating witness took place in New York, with $15,000 in bribes allegedly changing hands.

There's also the factor of the coaches working for federally funded institutions. That gives the FBI room to assert that Person and the other coaches conspired to commit bribery through federally funded educational programs.

Link: http://www.al.com/auburnbasketball/index.ssf/2017/09/why_the_fbi_is_getting_involve.html
 
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