A North Carolina man prosecutors say had a “leadership role” in a massive college basketball point shaving scheme has pleaded guilty to bribery, wire fraud and firearms expenses.
Jalen Smith, 30, of Charlotte, was the primary of 26 defendants to confess legal wrongdoing, getting into his plea on Monday, March 9, at a listening to in Philadelphia.
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Smith was a “fixer” who recruited gamers “to underperform and help ensure their team failed to cover the spread in games during the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 NCAA men’s basketball seasons,” federal prosecutors mentioned in a press release.
Smith was one of many main figures in the operation, accountable for “recruiting, managing, and paying players for their roles,” in response to the assertion.
The operation involved 39 players on more than 17 Division I teams from 2022-2025, with bettors wagering tens of millions of {dollars} on at the least 29 totally different video games, according to the original indictment in January. Payments to gamers ranged from $10,000 to $30,000 per recreation.
The fraud expenses carry a most sentence of as much as 20 years. The bribery expenses have a most sentence of 5 years. Smith additionally pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm.
This article initially appeared on USA TODAY: College basketball point-shaving ‘fixer’ enters guilty plea
