Twenty-six people have been charged in connection with an alleged bribery and point-shaving scheme involving men’s basketball games at the NCAA Division I and Chinese professional levels, U.S. Atty. David Metcalf announced Thursday.
The bribery charges carry a maximum sentence of five years and the fraud charges up to 20 years.
The indictment is the latest in a string of illegal gambling and game-fixing episodes in the seven years since the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, the federal statute that restricted legal betting to primarily Nevada.
Dozens of professional and college athletes and coaches have been suspended, fired or prosecuted for alleged gambling violations. This latest indictment only adds to the ledger.
“This was a massive scheme that enveloped the world of college basketball,” Metcalf said. “This was a significant and rampant corruption of college athletics.”
The most prominent player named in the indictment was Antonio Blakeney, the leading scorer at Louisiana State in 2016-17 and a veteran of two seasons with the Chicago Bulls. The shooting guard has played for professional teams in China, Israel and Bahrain since last playing in the NBA in 2019. The indictment describes Blakeney as being “charged elsewhere.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania filed the sweeping indictment, which involves 15 players from 17 college teams over the last four years. The scheme allegedly involved two gamblers — Shane Hennen and Marves Fairley — who were indicted in October for their alleged role in an NBA sports gambling scheme that allegedly included Miami Heat player Terry Rozier.
The alleged game fixing involving Blakeney began during the 2022–23 season in the Chinese Basketball Assn. Blakeney, who played for the Jiangsu Dragons and led the league with 32.1 points a game, allegedly was recruited by Hennen and Fairley to shave points.
According to the indictment, Hennen texted a friend after a fixed Chinese game, “Nothing guaranteed in this world but death, taxes and Chinese basketball.”
A year later the gamblers began targeting college players from mid-level Division I programs who weren’t making much money from name, image and likeness opportunities. Bribes to those players ranged from $10,000 to $30,000, according to the indictment.
Prop bets — wagers on specific events or occurrences within a game that aren’t tied to the final score — also were placed on certain outcomes based on the agreements with players.
Besides the players and gamblers, others included in the indictment worked as AAU coaches or personal trainers and allegedly recruited players to shave points.
“They picked these men because they were well connected in the world of college basketball,” Metcalf said. “Trainers, recruiters, networkers, people of influence, and because of that influence, they added gravitas and legitimacy to the scheme.”
Colleges under investigation include DePaul, Saint Louis, La Salle, Eastern Michigan, Robert Morris, Fordham, Buffalo, Tulane, Northwestern (La.) State, Nicholls State, Southern Mississippi, North Carolina A&T, Kennesaw State, Coppin State, New Orleans, Abilene Christian and Alabama State.
The indictment estimates the gamblers conspired with as many as 39 players across those 17 Division I teams to fix games. Bradley Ezewiro, who attended Bishop Montgomery High in Torrance before transferring to Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, is the only player with Southern California ties. He played at Saint Louis in 2023-24.
NCAA president Charlie Baker said in a statement that the governing body of college athletics conducted its own investigations into the fixing allegations and achieved results.
“The pattern of college basketball game integrity conduct revealed by law enforcement today is not entirely new information to the NCAA,” he said. “Through helpful collaboration and with industry regulators, we have finished or have open investigations into almost all of the teams in today’s indictment.
“Eleven student-athletes from seven schools were recently found to have bet on their own performances, shared information with known bettors, and/or engaged in game manipulation to collect on bets they — or others — placed. This behavior resulted in a permanent loss of NCAA eligibility for all of them. Additionally, 13 student-athletes from eight schools were found to have failed to cooperate in the sports betting integrity investigation by providing false or misleading information, failing to provide relevant documentation and/or refusing to be interviewed by the enforcement staff. None of them are competing today.”
At least four of the players charged in the indictment are active: Simeon Cottle of Kennesaw State; Camian Shell of Delaware State; Carlos Hart of Eastern Michigan; and Oumar Koureissi of Texas Southern. Cottle scored 21 points Wednesday night in Kennesaw State’s victory over Florida International and is the leading scorer in Conference USA.
Baker said the NCAA tries to root out sports betting violations through a “layered integrity monitoring program” that covers more than 20,000 games, but acknowledges the organization can’t do it alone.
“We still need the remaining states, regulators and gaming companies to eliminate threats to integrity — such as collegiate prop bets — to better protect athletes and leagues from integrity risks and predatory bettors,” he said. “We also will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement. We urge all student-athletes to make well-informed choices to avoid jeopardizing the game and their eligibility.”
DEFENDANTS
NAME, ROLE, HOMETOWN
Jalen Smith, fixer — Charlotte, N.C.
Marves Fairley, fixer — Carson, Miss.
Shane Hennen, fixer — Las Vegas, Nev.
Roderick Winkler, fixer — Little Rock, Ark.
Alberto Laureano, fixer — Bronx, N.Y.
Antonio Blakeney, fixer/player — Kissimmee, Fla.
Isaiah Adams, player — Tampa, Fla.
Arlando Arnold, player, — Picayune, Miss.
Simeon Cottle, player — Fairburn, Ga.
Kevin Cross, player — Edinburg, Texas
Micawber Etienne, player — Philadelphia
Bradley Ezewiro, player — Los Angeles
Shawn Fulcher, player — Brooklyn, N.Y.
Elijah Gray, player — Charlotte
Carlos Hart, player — Miami
Markese Hastings, player — Grand Rapids, Mich.
Corey Hines, player — Atlanta
Cedquavious Hunter, player — Como, Miss.
Oumar Koureissi, player — New York
Da’Sean Nelson, player — Chicago
Demond Robinson, player — Montgomery, Ala.
Camian Shell, player — Winston-Salem, N.C.
Dyquavion Short, player — Greenville, N.C.
Airion Simmons, player — Little Rock, Ark.
Diante Smith, player — Dallas
Jalen Terry, player — Ypsilanti, Miss.
