Wiretap Audio Evidence Detailing Pay Schemes Recovered From College Basketball Trial
Federal wiretap audio, text messages, hidden camera video and fraudulent invoices from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's probe into college basketball corruption was recovered by Outside the Lines, according to ESPN's Mark Schlabach and Paula Lavigne.
On Wednesday, a jury determined that Adidas executive Jim Gatto, former Adidas consultant Merl Code and would-be agent Christian Dawkins were each found guilty on all counts of committing wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. All three men were recorded discussing players and garnering their commitments to Adidas-funded programs.
Several of the wiretapped discussions focus on the recruitment Brian Bowen Jr., with others surrounding the recruitment of Christian Dawkins and Nassir Little.
One wiretapped call features Code and Gatto specifically discussing the University of Arizona's alleged $150,000 offer to sign Little, and if Adidas would match the offer in order to convince Little to commit with the Adidas-sponsored University of Miami.
"Uh, again, it doesn't have to be all in one lump sum," Code told Gatto in one transcript. "I can, I can make it work if you're saying you'll do it. I can tell them that, you know, its installments, and we'll figure out how to get it to you, when, where, how, blah, blah, blah."
ESPN published the wiretap audio in segments accompanied by full transcripts on Friday morning.
