Toledo FB Player accused of point-shaving

[BB73]

usatoday

Point-shaving remains a concern in college athletics


When gambler Ghazi "Gary" Manni allegedly bribed University of Toledo running back Harvey "Scooter" McDougle Jr. and other players to rig football and basketball games from 2003-06, he didn't ask them to deliberately lose, according to federal law authorities.

The alleged game-fixer's pitch to McDougle was more insidious ? and psychologically effective: Play to win, just by fewer points than the betting line set by the oddsmakers of Las Vegas. Don't beat yourself, beat the spread.

This illegal scam is known as point-shaving. The most common form involves paying athletes on favored teams to win the game ? but by fewer points than the betting line.

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[BB73]

usatoday

Man targeted in Toledo probe: 'They got nothing'

A central figure in the federal point-shaving investigation that has rocked the University of Toledo athletic program said the government has no evidence of wrongdoing despite prolonged surveillance of his telephone communications and other activities throughout the city of Detroit.

"They got nothing," Ghazi "Gary" Manni said in an interview with USA TODAY. Manni, a Detroit-area resident who describes himself as a gambler, was alleged to have conspired with Toledo football and basketball players to fix games, according to court documents.

But Manni said his contacts with Toledo athletes, including running back Harvey "Scooter" McDougle Jr., was about friendship and had nothing to do with fixing games.

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[BB73]

usatoday

Notes: Toledo back questioned again on point-shaving

By Michael McCarthy and Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit questioned Toledo running back Harvey "Scooter" McDougle Jr. again Wednesday in connection with alleged point-shaving by members of the school's football and men's basketball teams, says his father, Harvey McDougle Sr.

McDougle Jr. was suspended from the football team in March after being arrested and charged with conspiracy related to his dealings with Gary Manni, a self-described gambler from Detroit. The government dropped the charges a month later but said it was continuing its investigation of McDougle Jr.

"He's cooperating totally, fully, 100%," McDougle Sr. says about his 22-year-old son, a senior who remains at Toledo on an athletic scholarship. "But he's getting shafted. They think he knows more than he knows. I think they're using him to scare other college athletes, to slow down gambling in college sports."

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Morris declined to elaborate on his discussions with Scooter McDougle or other figures in the case. "The investigation is continuing," Morris says.

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[BB73]

usatoday

NCAA probing Toledo athletics program

The NCAA is conducting its own investigation of alleged point-shaving and possible extra benefits for athletes at the University of Toledo.

The NCAA investigation is separate from the ongoing federal probe of Harvey "Scooter" McDougle Jr., the senior running back who was charged in March with trying to rig football and men's basketball games from 2003 to 2006 in exchange for cash, a car, a cellphone and other valuables from a self-described gambler from Detroit, Ghazi "Gary" Manni.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit dropped the charges against McDougle in April, but federal investigators continue to pursue the case.

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[Thump]

Toledo Point Shaving

Not good for your program when ESPN comes sniffing around.

ESPN - An ESPN.com investigation: The Toledo point-shaving case - ESPN

 

[BB73]

Since the gambler was from Detroit, I'm wondering how many points Toledo would have beaten TSUN by if all of the Toledo players were trying.

OK, the time period is different, but I couldn't resist.

CBS.Sportsline

Docs: Ex-Toledo player recruited others for point-shaving scheme

TOLEDO, Ohio -- A former University of Toledo football player recruited his teammates and basketball players at the school to take part in a point-shaving scheme during a three-year period, according to documents filed in federal court.

Adam Cuomo, a little-used running back at Toledo, admitted that he initiated the scheme with a Detroit-area gambler in the fall of 2003 and that they both bet on Toledo games, the documents said.

Cuomo told investigators he gave information about upcoming games to the Detroit gambler and that he introduced numerous athletes to meet with the gambler, according to documents filed this week in U.S. District Court in Detroit.

Cuomo, who was a backup from Hamilton, Ontario, has not been charged.
He was at Toledo from 1999-2003.

The FBI has been looking into point shaving at Toledo over the past four years. They say the scheme began in 2003 and continued until 2006 after Cuomo was no longer on the team.

Until now, only two other former players at the school had been linked to the allegations.

Former basketball player Sammy Villegas was charged last June with shaving points in games during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons. Villegas has not entered a plea, but he is scheduled to be sentenced in June.

Charges against former football player Harvey "Scooter" McDougle Jr. were dropped two years ago as the investigation continued. McDougle has denied involvement.

McDougle said Friday that he was a freshman when Cuomo was a senior and they did not know each other very well. He remembered seeing Cuomo on campus and at games after his career was over.

According to the documents filed Tuesday, investigators say two football players and one basketball player have admitted to taking part in the point shaving scheme along with the Detroit gambler.

The gambler, who has not been charged, has been identified as Gary Manni of Sterling Heights. Manni has repeatedly said that he knew many football and basketball players at the school, but they did not fix any games.

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[DaddyBigBucks]

Get ye to a non-extradition country.

Andorra, Angola, Bantu Homelands, Bhutan, Bosnia, Cambodia, Ciskei, Cuba, Iran, Korea (North), Libya, Maldives, Serbia, Somalia, Taiwan, Transkei, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.

Which of those countries are not worse than prison?

Since the gambler was from Detroit, I'm wondering how many points Toledo would have beaten TSUN by if all of the Toledo players were trying.

OK, the time period is different, but I couldn't resist.

...

I'm surprised it took until post #36 for someone to say that, regardless of timeframe.

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

Which of those countries are not worse than prison?



I'm surprised it took until post #36 for someone to say that, regardless of timeframe.

Considering posts 1-35 were made prior to Toledo's upset, I'm not surprised at all. :p

 

[fourteenandoh]

 

[JCOSU86]

Which of those countries are not worse than prison?

Taiwan isn't bad.

 

[BB73]

SI.com

Six ex-Toledo athletes charged in point-shaving scheme

DETROIT (AP) -- Six former University of Toledo athletes and two Detroit-area businessmen have been charged in a 20-count federal indictment in what prosecutors describe as a point-shaving scheme.

The indictment filed in Detroit on Wednesday said between December 2004 and December 2006, 52-year-old Ghazi Manni of Sterling Heights and 76-year-old Mitchell Karam of Troy paid athletes to influence the final scores of football and basketball games on which the businessmen would bet.

The ex-players charged include Adam Cuomo, Keith Triplett, Anton Currie, Kashif Payne, Harvey McDougle Jr. and Quinton Broussard.

Cont'd ...

 

[BB73]

SI.com

Feds: Gambler met, spoke often with Toledo players

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) -- The seven former football and basketball players charged in an alleged point-shaving scheme at Toledo include a running back who led the team in rushing one season and a backup who rarely carried the ball.

Four were basketball starters -- one a hometown star who finished his career as Toledo's third-leading scorer and another who grew up poor in Puerto Rico and became the Mid-American Conference's freshman of the year.

The connection between all of them, federal investigators say, was a suburban Detroit businessman and gambler who made dozens of phone calls to the players, handed out cash and gifts and made large bets on Toledo games.

Investigators say the point-shaving scheme at Toledo began in the fall of 2004 and continued until 2006.

Ghazi Manni, 52, of Sterling Heights, Mich., met with different players nine times, including near the school's football stadium, at a bank and a casino in downtown Detroit, according to a federal indictment filed Wednesday.
He and Mitchell Karam, 76, of Troy, Mich., were charged with conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery.

The pair bet about $407,000 on 17 Toledo basketball games between November 2005 and December 2006, according to the indictment. It did not say whether the players changed the outcome in any of those games.

The indictment does not include many details about the players' alleged involvement. It does not list any football games that were part of the alleged point shaving.

It did say that Manni met three times with former running back Harvey "Scooter" McDougle Jr. and made dozens of calls to Adam Cuomo, a running back who seldom played. Cuomo told investigators that he was the player who started the point-shaving scheme with Manni, according to documents unsealed last month in federal court in Detroit.

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[stowfan]

I looked through this thread to see if Scooter had paid the UT football team to beat the crap out of Michigan last year. I could find a mention of it any where. I guess they did it on their own, how embarrassing.

 

[Palpie]

I looked through this thread to see if Scooter had paid the UT football team to beat the crap out of Michigan last year. I could find a mention of it any where. I guess they did it on their own, how embarrassing.

You must have left the State out after Michigan there.





Wait, UM lost to Toledo? No way. They're the all-time leader in wins, and Toledo is just a MACrifice. Was this why they finally ran off Lloyd?






Next someone will say Navy actually won a game vs NoD, or Bama lost to ULM.



</knocking on wood>

 

[BB73]

I like the way they worded this headline. :tongue2:

CBS

Michigan man pleads not guilty to sports bribery

DETROIT -- A gambler has pleaded not guilty to charges that he conspired to fix horse races and Toledo football and basketball games.

Mitchell "Ed" Karam of Troy, a 76-year-old developer, appeared in federal court in Detroit on Tuesday, nearly a week after he was named in two indictments. The indictments describe schemes to manipulate sports events by paying a jockey and former Toledo basketball and football players.

He was joined in court by Kashif Payne, 24, of Chester, Pa., who left the basketball team in November 2007. Not-guilty pleas were entered on behalf of both men.

Karam often covered his face with his hands as he waited for his name to be called.

"We contest the charges," defense lawyer Brian Legghio said outside court. "We're going to examine the evidence very closely."

The evidence includes phone calls secretly recorded by the FBI, involving Karam, co-defendant Ghazi "Gary" Manni of Sterling Heights, jockey Ricardo Valdes and Toledo players.

Authorities say Karam and Manni bet $407,000 on Toledo basketball games in 2005 and 2006 and paid players to shave points to control the final score. Seven ex-players -- three in football and four in basketball -- have been charged.

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