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Report: Eight Rutgers Football Players Facing Charges for Credit Card Fraud
Eight Rutgers football players are reportedly facing charges for a credit card scam, according to NJ.com.
After a four-month investigation, the eight players were arrested Wednesday in connection to the scam, per NJ.com.
On April 22, former Rutgers linebacker Brendan DeVara reportedly obtained credit card numbers on the dark web to put money on his university credit card. DeVara, who reportedly started the scam to pay off outstanding parking tickets, stole $2,400 over the next 11 days, reports NJ.com.
DeVara then recruited seven of his teammates to organize a credit card scheme, and they allegedly stole $11,450 last spring. The players transferred the money to several Rutgers Express debit card accounts for personal use.
DeVara, junior defensive back K.J. Gray, redshirt freshman defensive back Edwin Lopez, redshirt junior linebacker Malik Dixon, redshirt freshman linebacker Syhiem Simmons, sophomore defensive end C.J. Onyechi, senior defensive back Kobe Marfo and redshirt freshman defensive back Naijee Jones were arrested Wednesday, according to NJ.com.
They received multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit theft by deception in the third degree, reports NJ.com.
DeVera and Gray, previously named by police as the "ringleaders," are also facing second-degree charges with punishments of up to 5 to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $150,000.
The university dismissed DeVara and Gray on July 11 for violating team rules, while Simmons and Lopez left Rutgers. The other four players are still enrolled at the university but are no longer on the football team.
"We are very disappointed and frustrated," Rutgers University Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Pat Hobbs previously told NJ.com in an emailed statement. "We have been working extremely hard to build a culture of excellence across the department and this news detracts from the great strides we have made. We will continue that work.”
