For months, Iowa and Iowa State fans alike have wondered precisely why athletes from their respective universities were the subjects of a targeted sports wagering investigation — especially when the state of Iowa has been less than forthcoming on details of the investigation in the aftermath.
According to allegations made Monday and Tuesday by defense attorneys for some of the affected athletes, even agents at the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) were left wondering the same question after they were misled about who was being investigated.
Tuesday, attorney Christopher Sandy of Sandy Law Firm (representing ISU wrestler Paniro Johnson) filed a discovery motion after sworn deposition by agent Mark Ludwick that agents were told they were investigating sportsbooks like DraftKings and FanDuel, not student-athletes, before charges were then handed down anyway.
According to Sandy's motion, former Iowa State football player Isaiah Lee was informed by agents "that the focus of DCI’s investigation was solely on online gaming operators and that no adverse or criminal consequence would be forthcoming, and thereby secured Mr. Lee’s statements regarding his online gaming activities."
Agent Ludwick testified that he was then congratulated on securing a confession, and he subsequently told his superiors that he would not continue to participate in the investigation after realizing its true targets. Ludwick also testified that "numerous" other agents joined his refusal, according to the deposition.
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Sandy's motion comes on the heels of a separate motion filed Monday by attorney Van Plumb, who represents former ISU football players Lee and Eyioma Uwazurike, alleging that DCI agent Brian Sanger had no cause to begin the investigations and that he used "geofencing" searches to target the players without a warrant.
*A "geofence" is a virtual perimeter for a real-world geographic area; in this instance it's used as part of a law enforcement surveillance tool to monitor internet gambling activity.
According to Plumb's motion, Sanger sought an investigation without probable cause against any student-athletes and used a geofencing tool without a warrant and outside its authorized use to target athletes.
Both Sandy and Plumb filed motions for discovery, essentially asking the state for more documentation of the investigation. That includes the reports of gambling activity that were the alleged basis of the complaints; according to Plumb's motion, the state has told him that no such reports exist before May 2023, when the investigation began.
ANALYSIS
This is, to put it bluntly, a bombshell.
If the allegations in either motion are true, they would represent a massive violation of the student-athletes' privacy, and it should end the investigation immediately and permanently. Not only the integrity of the investigation but the integrity of the DCI itself has been placed in direct question by one of its own agents.
The gambling investigation has simply never passed the smell test, and the state of Iowa has done little to provide information necessary to assuage fears of misconduct — especially after an infamously vague show of "whole-hearted" support for the investigation by Iowa governor Kim Reynolds at a news conference on October 25, 2023.
"[DCI agents] did their job," Reynolds said. "They received inquiries about an issue, and they do what they do; they responded to that, and I think they were surprised at some of the results they found. They don't check in with me, but I support whole-heartedly the department and the decisions that were made."
As of Tuesday, Iowa remains the only state out of 50 that has undertaken such an investigation, for reasons that Sanger testified he couldn't remember and Reynolds would only characterize as "inquiries about an issue."
Student-athletes are prohibited from gambling by NCAA rules, and the need for safeguards around gambling is self-evidently obvious, for numerous reasons. Similarly, "geofencing" as a technology is necessary for internet gambling, in order to ensure that bets are being made in the states where it's legal, through a casino operating there.
This use of the technology, though, is a gross perversion of the task of regulating the casinos.
Casinos already monitor incoming wagers for signs of game-fixing, with algorithms of impossible complexity. That automated surveillance is how authorities discovered the other huge college gambling story of 2023, when Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon was caught tipping bettors at casinos; that activity resulted in his immediate firing.
Meanwhile, there were no Iowa or Iowa State games ever taken off any casinos' boards for irregular gambling, nor any bets by charged players cited by investigators as part of other fixed games.
With every update that comes from this case, it's harder and harder to see it as anything but a hit job. Sanger, who's already lined up for speaking arrangements on "a case study on Sports Betting Fraud," has instead apparently created a case study on railroading athletes for "crimes" that are about as severe as sharing a Netflix password.
Blame the kids for gambling all you'd like. It's the "adults" in charge who made this mess.
Iowa's athletic department suffered several high-profile losses of eligibility as a result of the investigation, as did Iowa State's. The Hawkeye football team's most notably affected player was sixth-year DT Noah Shannon, who was found to have wagered a small amount of money on Iowa's women's basketball team the previous season.
Shannon was suspended indefinitely, then for the season; the NCAA then floated the possibility of allowing Shannon to have his eligibility restored late in the season before "reducing" the gambling penalty to a year of eligibility. That punishment was effectively permanent for Shannon, whose only time on the field for the Hawkeyes would be his Senior Day introduction.
All told, 15 athletes from Iowa and Iowa State were charged in the investigation. According to defense attorneys, no other university was targeted, in or out of the state of Iowa, and no female athletes were targeted either.
Iowa and Iowa State are the only FBS-level athletic programs in the state.
Iowa State wrestling head coach Kevin Dresser, who also had several athletes lose eligibility as a result of the state's investigation, addressed the updates at an availability Tuesday, and he all but predicted large settlements from the State of Iowa to the affected athletes from both schools.
"I knew from Day 1 when my athletes called me that morning in early May, I knew this thing was a mess," Dresser said. "I knew it was mismanaged, and I knew it was mishandled, and I'm glad it's coming to light now. I hope all these athletes at Iowa and Iowa State take the State of Iowa to the cleaners. I hope they do."
"There's people in Des Moines that need to answer some questions," Dresser continued, referring to the DCI. "If they're going to pin it on one guy, I don't know if I believe that; I think more people need to take responsibility. I'm glad that it came to light, I'm glad these kids are going to get some justice, and y'know, there's going to be some checks written. Probably big checks."
Dresser's counterpart at Iowa, head wrestling coach Tom Brands, has a scheduled availability with the media Wednesday afternoon. His nephew Nelson Brands was one of four Iowa wrestlers who lost eligibility as a result of the controversial investigation, ending Nelson's career before his senior season could begin.
Assuming Agent Ludwick's sworn testimony is true, the most ethical thing the State of Iowa can do at this point is stop. Drop charges and start issuing apologies, ones with zeroes attached. And if the athletes' rights were violated as alleged, nobody with knowledge of the plan should conduct another investigation with people's livelihoods on the line.
That would be a good first step in the right direction.
