Basketball Probe

[WDG 109]

Could this be overreach?

The government accuses the coaches of depriving the universities of their honest

services as university employees by soliciting and receiving bribes.

Will be interesting.

How could a player that spent 12 years in NBA need money? 

War Eagle

https://www.wsj.com/articles/probe-into-ncaa-basketball-relies-on-unusual-legal-theories-1506553296

NCAA Basketball Relies on Unusual Legal Theories - WSJ.pdf do not know if this will work 

[Sani-Freeze 552]

Is this a haiku?

________

Could this be overreach?

The government accuses the coaches of depriving the universities of their honest

services as university employees by soliciting and receiving bribes.

Will be interesting.

How could a player that spent 12 years in NBA need money? 

 

[mickeyspano 40]

I don't know much about the law here but it seems to me that this is a case of entrapment where the FBI initiated a criminal enterprise and then enticed participants with large amounts of money and some were too weak to reject it. That doesn't make the coaches innocent but it feels like the FBI is the more guilty party here. Unfortunately the victims here are the teenagers who trusted their coaches and will probably  end up losing their college careers and education as a consequence. Of course the other victim is our school that is being dragged through the mud and will probably have our basketball program destroyed. I know there is a lot more to this story that we have not heard yet but this is how it feels right now.

[LKEEL75 2,566]

No this is not over reach and it is not entrapment.  This all boils down to securities fraud (and many other charges) against a financial adviser.  That adviser then rolled over on anyone and everyone he could to get time and fines taken away.  Paying anyone to receive their business as a financial adviser is illegal and when caught can be very expensive.

As for Chuck needing money, well statistics show that most (somewhere like 70%) of the professional sports players are broke within a few years after retirement.  It is not far fetched that Chuck may not be broke by average joe terms but in his mind he was.

[gravejd 3,270]

3 hours ago, lkeel75 said:

No this is not over reach and it is not entrapment.  This all boils down to securities fraud (and many other charges) against a financial adviser.  That adviser then rolled over on anyone and everyone he could to get time and fines taken away.  Paying anyone to receive their business as a financial adviser is illegal and when caught can be very expensive.

As for Chuck needing money, well statistics show that most (somewhere like 70%) of the professional sports players are broke within a few years after retirement.  It is not far fetched that Chuck may not be broke by average joe terms but in his mind he was.

What i don't get about person is that he has been coaching at the NBA level and college level since about the time he retired. So its not like he was in a lot of player's position where he got done with BB and then had nothing to fall back on. I don't know what he was making in the NBA and at AU but it would have to be atleast 6 figures right? Dude most have quite the cocaine and stripper habit to support 

[LKEEL75 2,566]

50 minutes ago, gravejd said:

What i don't get about person is that he has been coaching at the NBA level and college level since about the time he retired. So its not like he was in a lot of player's position where he got done with BB and then had nothing to fall back on. I don't know what he was making in the NBA and at AU but it would have to be atleast 6 figures right? Dude most have quite the cocaine and stripper habit to support 

Yeah it is amazing how people can spend money.  I remember my first real job and I was so excited because the salary was so much compared to my SteakOut hourly wage.  My mom told me some wise advice right then: "You spend what you make".  I have been a firm believer in this statement since then when I realized every raise I ever get always is gone before I get it.  I presume this holds true for them as well.  At least until you start making HFC for an SEC school.  When you get to be that age and making those wages surely you won't spend all that.

[AU64 10,122]

1 hour ago, lkeel75 said:

Yeah it is amazing how people can spend money.  I remember my first real job and I was so excited because the salary was so much compared to my SteakOut hourly wage.  My mom told me some wise advice right then: "You spend what you make".  I have been a firm believer in this statement since then when I realized every raise I ever get always is gone before I get it.  I presume this holds true for them as well.  At least until you start making HFC for an SEC school.  When you get to be that age and making those wages surely you won't spend all that.

Best advice I got on the subject is when you get a raise...do not spend it.....go to the 401k.

[wdefromtx 3,159]

Saw on a 247 sports article where the FBI is interested in the NCAA itself now regarding what they know about all the shoe companies involvements.

 

Time to get out the popcorn.

[augolf1716 21,109]

15 minutes ago, wdefromtx said:

Saw on a 247 sports article where the FBI is interested in the NCAA itself now regarding what they know about all the shoe companies involvements.

 

Time to get out the popcorn.

[doverstutts 1,643]

17 minutes ago, wdefromtx said:

Saw on a 247 sports article where the FBI is interested in the NCAA itself now regarding what they know about all the shoe companies involvements.

 

Time to get out the popcorn.

I expected this because there is no way to deflect the s*** away from them this time.   Emmert is going to get his payback ( i hope) and ya'll are about to learn some stuff about this rat b*******

[wdefromtx 3,159]

Live shot of the Alabama compliance department...

[FoundationEagle 637]

21 minutes ago, doverstutts said:

I expected this because there is no way to deflect the s*** away from them this time.   Emmert is going to get his payback ( i hope) and ya'll are about to learn some stuff about this rat b*******

If he goes down, no way bama football isn't involved.  They are "like peas and carrots"

[doverstutts 1,643]

5 minutes ago, FoundationEagle said:

If he goes down, no way bama football isn't involved.  They are "like peas and carrots"

If I get finished with my running around tomorrow, let me see what I can dig up on ole markie boy and little buddy nickie

[augolf1716 21,109]

1 hour ago, wdefromtx said:

Live shot of the Alabama compliance department...

lol that made me spit my beer out

[wdefromtx 3,159]

17 minutes ago, augolf1716 said:

lol that made me spit my beer out

  I have to drink one for ya then. 

[wdefromtx 3,159]

Start working on your brackets...

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

2 minutes ago, wdefromtx said:

Start working on your brackets...

That's freakin' hysterical  

[constructiontiger 32]

11 hours ago, mickeyspano said:

I don't know much about the law here but it seems to me that this is a case of entrapment where the FBI initiated a criminal enterprise and then enticed participants with large amounts of money and some were too weak to reject it. That doesn't make the coaches innocent but it feels like the FBI is the more guilty party here. Unfortunately the victims here are the teenagers who trusted their coaches and will probably  end up losing their college careers and education as a consequence. Of course the other victim is our school that is being dragged through the mud and will probably have our basketball program destroyed. I know there is a lot more to this story that we have not heard yet but this is how it feels right now.

These kids are not interested in a college career or education - they and their families have their hand out looking for cash.

[FoundationEagle 637]

Charles Barkley quote about this situation:

"It's been there forever, and now everybody wants to act like they're totally in shock now, and they're just full of crap," he said. "This stuff has been going on forever."

(article on al.com)

[mustache eagle 2,397]

3 hours ago, doverstutts said:

If I get finished with my running around tomorrow, let me see what I can dig up on ole markie boy and little buddy nickie

Wouldn’t it be fun if the ncaa/emmert sacrificed Bama football in order to save itself...

[AU64 10,122]

9 hours ago, FoundationEagle said:

Charles Barkley quote about this situation:

"It's been there forever, and now everybody wants to act like they're totally in shock now, and they're just full of crap," he said. "This stuff has been going on forever."

(article on al.com)

? who would know better than Charles......

[gr82be 14,423]

12 hours ago, doverstutts said:

If I get finished with my running around tomorrow, let me see what I can dig up on ole markie boy and little buddy nickie

Don't let anyone know the route you're running. If anyone finds out you're digging around you could fall up a hill or even worse. 

[selias 2,398]

15 hours ago, wdefromtx said:

Saw on a 247 sports article where the FBI is interested in the NCAA itself now regarding what they know about all the shoe companies involvements.

 

Time to get out the popcorn.

Oh, this could get MOST interesting in a New York minute.

[doverstutts 1,643]

2 hours ago, selias said:

Oh, this could get MOST interesting in a New York minute.

told ya'

[aufan57 922]

Quote

FBI Agent in Basketball Corruption Probe Is Accused of Misconduct

The undercover investigator is suspected of spending government money on gambling, food and beverages; can he still be a witness?

By 

Rebecca Davis O’Brien

Feb. 8, 2018 5:30 a.m. ET

82 COMMENTS

 

An undercover agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation who played a central role in an investigation of alleged corruption in men’s college basketball has been accused of misappropriating government money on gambling, food and beverages during the probe, people familiar with the matter said.

The Justice Department launched a criminal investigation last year into the agent’s alleged behavior, two of the people said. If he is found culpable, it could compromise his ability to participate as a witness at any trials resulting from the investigation.

A spokeswoman for the FBI’s New York office declined to comment. A spokesman for the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment.

The corruption allegations last fall had wide-ranging reverberations, including team suspensions of players and the firing of Rick Pitino, the famed head coach at the University of Louisville, after his program was implicated in one of the alleged schemes. Mr. Pitino hasn’t been charged, and has denied wrongdoing.

The investigation, which was anchored by a cooperating witness, several undercover FBI agents and wiretaps on least five phone numbers, was aided by a free flow of cash, according to charging documents and people familiar with the investigation.

To create the impression they were investors in a fledgling sports agency looking to reel in players, undercover FBI agents and a cooperating witness took coaches out to fancy dinners, booked elegant hotel rooms, and handed out envelopes of cash, the people said.

Starting in the spring of 2017, the FBI agent now under scrutiny spent months undercover in the investigation, posing as a business partner of the government’s lead cooperating witness—Pittsburgh financial adviser Marty Blazer. On July 29, while on an undercover trip to Las Vegas, the agent met in a hotel room with a group including Mr. Blazer, an aspiring sports agent and an assistant coach at the University of Southern California, according to the criminal complaints.

Within days of that meeting, the agent abruptly appeared to stop working on the undercover operation, some of the people familiar with the investigation said. His absence was explained to the aspiring sports agent as an overseas trip, according to the complaints last fall.

Some of the information about the allegations against the agent was disclosed in letters from the U.S. attorney’s office to defense lawyers in the corruption case, along with other materials related to that investigation, according to the people familiar with that case.

The basketball probe came to light in September when authorities arrested four assistant coaches at prominent college basketball programs, along with an Adidas AG executive, a financial adviser and others.

The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office charged the men in three alleged schemes to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars to college coaches and the families of top high-school recruits. The money was allegedly intended to induce players to attend certain schools and, once they turned pro, sign with specific advisers, agents and apparel companies, prosecutors have said.

Adidas has previously said it was cooperating with the investigation.

Lawyers for the defendants have argued the government is criminalizing NCAA rules violations and that the coaches were trying to help the schools, not defraud them.

“After expending enormous resources,” lawyers for defendants in one of the cases wrote in a December motion, “the Government has strained to find any legal theory…in order to transform NCAA rule violations into a conspiracy to commit federal wire fraud.”

A judge in that case, in which the Adidas executive is accused of arranging to pay recruits through intermediaries to attend schools with Adidas shoe contracts, will hear arguments next week on whether to dismiss the charges based on defendants’ arguments that no one was hurt, and no law was broken.