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6 ex-UT athletes indicted by feds
2 Detroit men indicted in alleged conspiracy
Updated: Wednesday, 13 May 2009, 9:14 PM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 06 May 2009, 2:15 PM EDT
TOLEDO, Ohio - Six former University of Toledo student-athletes and two Metro Detroit businessmen have been charged in a 20-count federal indictment in U.S. Federal Court in Detroit Wednesday in what prosecutors describe as a point-shaving scheme and conspiracy to commit sports bribery.
The six indicted are Adam Cuomo, 31, Keith Triplett, 29, Anton Currie, 25, Kashif Payne, 24, Harvey "Scooter" McDougle, 24, and Quinton Broussard, 25. Cuomo, McDougle and Broussard played on the football team while Triplett, Currie and Payne played on the UT men's basketball program.
READ: Adam Cuomo criminal complaint document
The indictment said between December 2004 and December 2006, 52-year-old Ghazi Manni of Sterling Heights, Mich., and 76-year-old Mitchell Karam of Troy, Mich., paid athletes to influence the final scores of football and basketball games on which the businessmen would bet.
"We had no knowledge," said Larry Burns, Vice President of External Affairs.
The Metro Detroit men then allegedly bet $407,000 on basketball games according to the indictment.
"We feel this is behind us from the standpoint of where the athletic department and Rocket sports are going," Burns added.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association in Indianapolis released a statement late Wednesday afternoon concerning the alleged allegations at the University of Toledo.
"The NCAA is disappointed and concerned to hear about the point-shaving indictments involving former University of Toledo student-athletes and other individuals," Stacey Osburn, NCAA Associate Director for Public and Media Relations, said. "These type of activities are precisely why the NCAA continues to take such a strong stance against any sports wagering. Point-shaving allegations are taken very seriously by the Association. There is no doubt that sports wagering threatens the wellbeing of student-athletes and can affect the integrity of our games."
"The NCAA was aware of the University of Toledo point-shaving allegations and has been in contact with the university, law enforcement officials and Las Vegas gaming officials. Law enforcement procedures are separate from NCAA enforcement of its rules. NCAA policy prohibits us from commenting on specific details regarding a potential or ongoing investigation."
Burns said the school has done everything it could to cooperate for the last two years.
"I believe people will evaluate and judge the University of Toledo on how we react to things like this, how we act in this seriousness," he said.
In a letter to students and faculty, UT President Dr. Lloyd Jacobs said in light of the allegations of the former student-athletes, he and the university consider them "past history."
"Let me say from the beginning that we take this matter seriously, however we also consider it past history," Dr. Jacobs said in the letter. "We will continue to cooperate fully with all law enforcement agencies. Working together, it is nay hope that this matter can be resolved quickly and justly for all parties involved. We believe that this action brings closure to the investigatory portion of this process."
"Be assured that these allegations do not fit within the University’s values system and we have turned the page on this matter."
The FBI began investigating point shaving at Toledo four years ago. They said the scheme began in the fall of 2004 and continued until 2006.
FBI special agent Andrew Arena said the point shaving charges are "an example of how organized crime can influence intercollegiate athletics."
"Today's charges shine a light into the dark corner of illegal sports book-making," said U.S. attorney Terrence Berg.
According to the indictment Manni and Karam would get information from the athletes about certain games - information the rest of us would not know. Then they allegedly would then place bets.
For example the two bet $44,000 on the UT-St. Bonaventure game in 2005. According to the indictment, some of the players would control events to ensure the university would score a certain number of points.
As for the football program, the indictment does not mention any specific mention of games that were influenced. In the April 2009 indictment of Cuomo, it mentioned possible players being recruited to influence the 2005 GMAC Bowl. The Rockets won that game, 45-13, over the University of Texas-El Paso in Mobile, Ala.
UT looked into its athletic department two years ago.
"At that time, and we still feel the same way - the culture or ethos of our athletic department is solid and there's nothing to indicate this kind of thing would occur," Burns said.
The alleged two-year betting ring started with McDougle. He was the first to be indicted. His career as a Rocket lasted pretty much all of just one season, most notably the end of the 2004 season with break out games against Bowling Green and Miami in the Mid-American Conference championship. But injuries and academic issues kept
McDougle off the field.
Charges against McDougle were dropped as the investigation continued. McDougle has denied involvement.
Cuomo, a former back-up running back with the Rockets from 2001-04, admitted to alleged point shaving according to an affidavit unsealed April 23 in U.S. District Court in Detroit. Cuomo was found to be the centerpiece in the point shaving scheme. He was a walk-on running back for UT and spent a considerable amount of time on the bench.
Federal authorities say Cuomo, who lives in Ontario, Canada, was the go between for Manni and the Toledo athletes.
Not mentioned in Wednesday's mass indictment, is former basketball player Sammy Villegas. FOX Toledo News was the first to uncover that Villegas was allegedly involved in the point-shaving scheme. He will be sentenced June 18 in Detroit. Federal prosecutors charged Villegas of felony conspiracy to influence a sporting contest by bribery.
Villegas will go down as one of the best 3-point shooters in Rockets history but his senior year is when things really started to fall apart for the Lima Senior graduate.
Triplett, a Bowsher High School graduate, was one of the best Rockets on the hardwood. He had an outstanding sophomore and junior season, only to struggle in his final season with the Rockets. Triplett said two years ago that he knew Manni, but was never asked to shave points. Triplett is the third all-time leading scorer in Rockets basketball history - first in steals and was first team all-MAC selection in 2004.
After that outstanding 2003-04 season that saw the UT men's hoops team win 20 games, Triplett was tabbed a preseason All-MAC player for the 2004-05 season. Things didn't go as planned and, at times, Triplett and former Rockets head coach Stan Joplin could be seen at games clashing.
Triplett's time on the floor decreased about 10 percent and he scored about 200 fewer points in his senior year than he did his junior season.
After winning the MAC's Defensive Player of the year award in 2007, and helping guide the team to a regular season MAC title, Payne left the basketball team just weeks before the start of the 2007-08 campaign because of personal reasons.
This indictment may shed some light onto those reasons.
In an interview with FOX Toledo, Burns admitted he had Kashif as a student. He was shocked to hear of the charges.
"Kashif was a very attentive student and a fine young man," Burns said. "Again I remind myself that he has not been found guilty of anything and I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. I'll continue to do that."
Currie wasn't the standout player Triplett and Payne were, but he but did see a fair amount of time on the court later in his career. He was a four-year letter winner from 2003-06 and averaged about four points a game. But it was toward the end of his career when the majority of the alleged point shaving scandal was taking place that Currie saw the bulk of his time - 17 to 19 minutes a game.
The sixth student-athlete involved is Broussard. He was part of the "baby backs," with Trinity Dawson and Astin Martin. Broussard wasn't the go-to running back but was a key part to the Rockets success from 2003-05. Broussard was a four-year letter winner from 2002-05 on the football team, scoring nine touchdowns in his final two seasons.
Manni and Karam were also charged along with a former Florida jockey, Ricardo Alfredo Valdes of Ocala, Fla., in a separate, 19-count indictment.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit said Manni and Karam paid Valdes and other jockeys in order to gather inside information and try to influence the results at Tampa Bay Downs and other tracks.
If convicted, the six former UT student-athletes could each face up to five years behind bars and $250,000 in fines. Manni, Karam and Valdez could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for wire fraud.
(FOX Toledo's Mike Thompson, Shaun Hegarty and The Associated Press contributed to this report)
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