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One of 26 people charged in an alleged bribery and embezzlement scheme to fix NCAA Division I and Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) men’s basketball games has pleaded guilty, announced U.S. Attorney David Metcalf.
Jalen Smith, a 30-year-old man from Charlotte, North Carolina, pleaded guilty Monday before U.S. District Court Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro in connection with the scheme, as well as charges related to illegal possession of a firearm.
Smith pleaded guilty to bribery in sports competitions, aiding and abetting, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and possession of a firearm by a felon.
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The NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis is shown on Thursday, March 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, file)
An indictment unsealed in January said Smith was involved in a scheme to influence or fix NCAA and ABC men’s basketball games from at least “about September 2022 until at least about February 2025.”
The co-conspirators enlisted Smith as a “fixer,” where they would work with others to recruit and bribe NCAA Division I men’s basketball players to underperform and ensure their team failed to cover the spreads in games during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.
“Through various sports betting sites, Smith helped arrange large bets on these games, betting against the team whose player(s) he had bribed to engage in this point-splitting scheme,” the United States Attorney’s Office said in a press release.
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“Smith and other fixers approached and communicated with players, in person and via social media, text messages and phone calls, offering players bribes, typically ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 per game.”
While today’s college athletes are paid via name, image, and likeness (NIL) trademark deals, Smith and other fakers “specifically targeted college players for whom bribes would significantly supplement.”
A generic view of a basketball on a court. (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
More than 39 players from more than 17 different NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams were found to be involved in the bribery and point-sharing scheme, with fixing or attempted fixing in more than 29 NCAA games.
The matchmakers made “bets totaling millions of dollars,” with the players involved collectively receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes.
Smith faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine for the athletic bribery charge, up to 20 years for each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and a maximum of 15 years for the firearms charge.
NCAA President Charlie Baker responded to the points reduction program in January.
NCAA President and former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker is interviewed by Boston Globe Sports Writer Chris Gasper during the 2023 Globe Summit. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“Protecting the integrity of competitions is of the utmost importance to the NCAA. We are grateful to law enforcement who work to detect and combat integrity issues and game manipulation in college sports,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a statement.
Baker said the indictments were “not entirely new information for the NCAA” because it had conducted “integrity investigations into approximately 40 student-athletes from 20 schools over the past year.”
