Some college basketball games, according to federal prosecutors, were blatantly fixed, and they just dropped the hammer.
Twenty individuals have been charged in a stunning point-shaving and bribery scam that allegedly corrupted at least 39 Division I players, 17 schools, and roughly 30 rigged contests during the last two seasons, according to a shocking indictment unveiled on Thursday.
According to the prosecution, former LSU and NBA player Antonio Blakeney assisted Shane Hennen and Marves Fairley, two men already involved in other federal gambling cases, in running the enterprise.
The purported scheme? Pay players between $10,000 and $30,000 every game to perform poorly enough for their teams to fail to cover the betting spread while the wagerers profited.
According to the Feds, it all began in China, when Blakeney allegedly lost games while playing abroad, enabling the group to cash large bets in the United States.
He allegedly received roughly $200,000 for his efforts at the end of the season, according to the prosecution.
The gang allegedly relocated to the United States after the funds began to come, primarily focusing on undergraduate programs at smaller, mid-major universities like DePaul, Tulane, La Salle, Fordham, Saint Louis, Buffalo, Southern Miss, and more.
In addition, separate federal prosecutions pertaining to NBA gambling, including one involving Terry Rozier, and another purported fraud that uses former NBA players as bait are being brought against the same ringleaders.
Despite Hennen and Fairley’s not guilty pleas, the NCAA has already permanently banned over a dozen athletes for their involvement in gambling and game-fixing.
