Feds Indict College Basketball Players in Massive Point-Shaving Scandal
Federal prosecutors in Pennsylvania on Thursday unsealed an indictment that included 15 college basketball players accused of participating in a point-shaving scheme to fix nearly 30 Division I games.
The 70-page indictment accuses bettors of wagering millions of dollars and funneling hundreds of thousands in bribes to 39 players on 17 teams to manipulate the outcome of parts or the entirety of games.
The alleged ringleaders of the scheme are Jalen Smith, Marves Fairley, Shane Hennen, Roderick Winkler, and Alberto Laureano. It began in 2022 with wagers on Chinese professional basketball games involving Antonio Blakeney and eventually widened to include U.S. college games involving such teams as DePaul, Saint Louis, and Tulane.
“The point-shaving scheme corrupted the integrity of NCAA college sporting contests and the sportsbooks accepting wagers on those contests and caused sportsbooks and individual sports bettors to suffer financial losses,” the indictment read.
Players Charged with Taking Bribes
The players named in the indictment are: Oumar Koureissi of Nicholls State; Kevin Cross of Tulane; Bradley Ezewiro of Saint Louis; Jalen Terry and Da’Sean Nelson of DePaul and Eastern Michigan; Markeese Hastings of Robert Morris; Arlando Arnold of Southern Mississippi; Camian Shell of North Carolina A&T; Simeon Cottle and Demond Robinson of Kennesaw State; Carlos Hart, Dyquavion Short, and Cedquavious Hunter of New Orleans; Airion Simmons of Abilene Christian; and Shawn Fulcher of Alabama State.
An example of the alleged point shaving is the Feb. 28, 2024 game between Robert Morris and Northern Kentucky. According to prosecutors, Smith and Hastings communicated by text and worked to get others involved in allowing Northern Kentucky to cover the 1.5-point spread for the first half of the game. Bettors involved in the scheme are accused of wagering more than $255,000 on that outcome and paying players an undisclosed amount for their involvement.
Those accused of placing the bets allegedly used a licensed BetRivers sportsbook in Pennsylvania and an unnamed one in Kentucky for some of the wagers, along with illegal bookies and offshore operators.
The players face charges of aiding and abetting bribery in sporting contests and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The five alleged ringleaders also face charges of wire fraud. If found guilty, the bribery charges carry a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison, while the wire fraud charges may lead to a maximum sentence of 20 years.
In addition to the 15 players indicted in Pennsylvania, five additional men who played college basketball in either the 2023-24 and/or 2024-25 season face charges elsewhere.
Prosecutor: Sports Betting, NIL Fuel Opportunity
Sports betting in the U.S. has increased significantly in the years since the Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 2018. That case allowed all 50 states to legalize sports betting. Currently, 39 states and the District of Columbia have legalized sports wagering.
However, that is not the only change for major college sports. Federal courts have also ruled that players can receive compensation for their name, image and likeness and even receive a share of the revenue their schools earn from their games.
David Metcalf, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, told reporters in Philadelphia Thursday that the combination of sports betting and “monetization of college athletics” played a role in the point-shaving scheme.
As we allege in the indictment, certain players were targeted because they were somewhat missing out on NIL money.”
U.S. Attorney david metcalf
While it’s up to the NCAA and other policymakers to address NIL and revenue issues, Metcalf insisted prosecutors would not “sit here on the sidelines” waiting for that to happen.
“We’re going to step in to combat the corruption of this sport,” he added.
NCAA Pushes for Sports Betting Changes
Thursday’s announcement is not the first accusing professional or college athletes of fixing games. According to a statement from the NCAA, its staff has investigated roughly 40 student-athletes from 20 schools during the past year. Of the cases that have been completed, the governing body said 11 students from seven schools have been accused or found to bet on themselves, provide information to bettors or fix the outcome so certain bets won.
“This behavior resulted in a permanent loss of NCAA eligibility for all of them,” the NCAA said.
NCAA President Charlie Baker has pushed states where sports betting is legal to place more restrictions on college sports wagering. Some states have complied and taken steps like banning prop betting on individual players. Other states prohibit wagering on games involving in-state teams.
On Wednesday, Baker called on the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to bar the prediction markets it oversees from offering contracts on college events until tighter restrictions that mirror state regulations are in place. Currently, federally regulated prediction market operators offer sports betting contracts nationwide, although they face lawsuits from several states seeking to stop markets on any sporting event.
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